[Paddlewise] Resurrection Bay (long post)

Here is a report of a trip I just completed in Resurrection Bay out of Seward
Alaska.  i will follow this in a couple of days with a report of another  5
day trip  took in Prince Wiliam Sound.  





    I rolled out of Wasilla in the wee hours of the morning headed south. I
passed the silty glacier fed waters of Cook inlet and Turnagain arm headed for
the clearer water of Kenai Fjords. I put in at Seward and headed out into
Resurrection Bay. Quickly I faced my first decision. I wanted to immediately
cross the Resurrection Bay over to the East shore but sometimes this passage
can get windy and rough.  The weather however, smiled on me, it was windy but
not bad. I made the two mile crossing quickly then slowed down to a slower
pace in order to enjoy the wave sculptured rocky shore line. 





Waterfalls from the melting snow tumbled into the sea and Marbled Murrelets
fished for small fish. I watched as one caught a fish that was almost too big.
He didn’t want to let it go but seemed in a dilemma as to how he was going to
swallow it. Finally after a minute or so of failed attempts he managed to get
hold of the head and swallow it down.





I have seen a lot of strange things in Alaska. After all "There are strange
things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold" wrote Robert
Service, but seeing an alligator following a kayak really surprised me. Why
someone would be towing a 3 foot long plastic very green alligator in Alaska I
don’t know. I started to ask but didn’t. Instead merely said hello in passing
as if seeing someone tow a plastic gator was an every day occurrence.





The wind picked up a little so I dug in and paddled a little harder. I saw a
group of paddlers coming my way that with a little creative rigging were using
a tarp as a sail. There were about 8 people in 6 boats and as they passed me
one of the yelled over "we are the lazy bum squad" .





"Whatever ever works" I hollered back.





My destination was Thumb Cove about 8 miles as the Raven flies from Seward. As
I rounded the point to the entrance of Thumb Cove I was overwhelmed by the
beauty of this Cove. Though not very big cove the sight was stunning. I looked
up at hanging glaciers and snow fields that clung to the mountains as they
rose up out of the sea. Multiple streams laced down the mountain side
shimmering in the afternoon sun. Snow covered the shaded beaches. The snow
banks formed walls two feet thick marking the reached of high tide. I camped
on a sunny beach where the snows of winter had long retreated and along with a
male and female Common Goldeneye enjoyed the peaceful serenity of Thumb Cove.






The next morning I headed farther south to Sunny Cove on Fox Island. I saw my
first Puffins of the trip along with Sea Otters, and Pigeon Guillemots. 





I also saw the first of many "Sentinels" as I would come to call them. These
were rock formations that at the right angle of sun appeared as faces much
like the stones of Easter Island. I am not alone in my imaginings, one of the
major landmarks of Resurrection Bay is a place called Caines Head. All these
mysterious Sentinels were looking out to sea as if waiting for something to
appear on the horizon...a ship, the end of the world? Waiting and watching.
One in particular Sentinel stopped me in mid stroke. It looked like all the
Sunday school pictures of one of the Wiseman from the Bethlehem story. He too
was looking to the horizon as if waiting for the star to once again appear to
bring hope in this troubled world.





Maybe why we go to sea in our wee boats is to explore such mysteries and in so
discover a part of ourselves.





Sunny Cove I found a beach that provided a high camping spot and a snow bank
to melt water for cooking. I also found my wife’s birthday present. A dead
porcupine! No I am not headed for a divorce I assure you. My wife years ago
was taught the art of beading from a Tlingit elder. A prize material for
beading is porcupine quills. Once the ends are cut off the hollow quills are
easily threaded with needle and threat and is quite attractive in the hands of
a good beader like my wife. ( She was thrilled when I gave them too her, the
first she had to work with for years.)





On day three I woke at 5 am to the sound of a hard wind flapping the tent. I
figured I was going to have to change plans and not head farther south like I
wanted. I went back to sleep and awoke at 7. Whitecaps in the Bay. I took the
morning easy since I wasn’t going anywhere. Then about 9 the winds died down
and I took off. The rest of the day it was dead calm. For the next three days
it would blow hard in the early morning and be calm in mid day. Opposite of
the norm.





I set off for Hive and Ragged Islands. Two Islands that stick out into the
Gulf Of Alaska. I love the outer Islands because of their combination of
remoteness and ruggedness. These Islands were no exception. Ragged and rugged
cliffs rose hundreds of feet out of the sea. Sea birds, Puffins, Murres,
Gillimonts, and Cormorants perched on rock ledges. A family of sea otters swam
along the edge, the mother watching me warily while her baby on her stomach
played with mom’s wiskers.





The sea had begun to carve the beginning of great sea caves into the rock. A
few sea arches could be found to scoot through in my kayak. I wish some day I
could see someday the swells of a great storm crash through these arches. Alas
I know I never will but I can dream of such adventures.





Rounding the southern tips of Ragged Island, Bear Glacier came into view.
Almost three miles wide this tide water Glacier is born amidst the Harding
Icefield. I had seen it once before up close but now my view from 8 miles away
left me in awe of the massive river of ice and snow.





The view of Bear Glacier was so stunning that I. paddled by a small colony of
sea lions sunning themselves without noticing. I was about 50 yards past them
when I heard the bull grunt. I turned to see the colony piled up on a rock
just inside a small cove. While I watched two females got into a loud argument
over who got the top spot on the rock. A few roars and some posturing then
they settled down once again to enjoy the sun.





I turned North to head back to Sunny Cove. As I approached Hive Island, I
noticed another Sentinel, this one more a trick of shadows upon the rock.
There was the silhouette of a woman’s face in her widows shaw looking out to
sea for her long lost lover. An eerie sight for one such as me solo out upon
the high seas. Paddle well I thought to myself less that be my beloved’s face
mourning me.





Day four and it was time to head back. In the morning I awoke to the sound of
rain upon my tent. This day the mountains were gone, shrouded in the low
hanging clouds. I crossed the six miles across the bay to Caines Head without
incident, the swells were gentle and the winds were light. With all that was
to see shrouded in the mist it was a day of listening to the world about me.
Swells crashing onto distant rocks and the crack of a distant Glacier. Three
curious sea lions followed for a while surfacing for a look at this strange
creature moving on top of the water, giving their presence away with the sound
of their exhaling and grunting. Sometimes the silence was so that as an raven
flew over I could hear the wind in his wings, othertimes the silence was
broken by the screech of a gull or the sound of a distant motor boat.





Always though on this day was the sound of the rain. The rain was steady as it
often is in these waters but not hard or blinding. Instead danced in the water
about me in a gentle rhythm of life.





I landed on a beach where I had camped last August. What was once an even
beach of stones was now a chaotic jumble of stone, drift wood and flotsam. The
work of the storms of winter. I cleared a place amid the stone for my tent and
spent much of the rest of the day reading and listening to the rain upon the
tent walls.





Day 5 would be my last day. though not a long paddle it was an eventful one.
First I found a sea arch. I carefully scanned the sea for rouge waves then
paddled through in a couple seconds what took the sea millions of years to
create. Later I poked my nose into a small sea cave. Much to my surprise
several sea birds Murries, shot out. It was low tide so I believe this was a
temporary resting place since the cave was mostly under at high tide. 





My next surprise came as I paddles close to shore looking up at the cliffs
above. There looking down at me was a couple old Mountain Goats. Confident
that I was not going to be able to climb after them, they sat serenely
munching grasses and watching me paddle past. 





Alas I arrived at the take out and back to so called civilization with it’s
traffic, noise and troubling headlines. I sat off shore for a little bit
before landing. Reflecting on the trip and its scenery, mystery and serenity.
It was tempting to turn around and head back out to sea but alas that is for
another time and another place.











Bob








***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************