Cannery Cove to Thomas Bay

We lifted our anchors in a light drizzle and a bit of fog as we departed Cannery Cove. Tongass National Forest is a rainforest after all, and the rain keeps the forest beautiful green. Besides, with proper rain gear the weather is always good.

Our journey took us through Fredricks Sound which is notorious for humpback siting’s. The waves were about 2 feet, and the skies were grey and overcast, not the best conditions for viewing whales. La Vida had started out thirty minutes ahead of the rest of the fleet and hailed us on the radio to report humpbacks! As we made our way over, we began to see blows all around us in the low light. We slowed to idle and watched the show from every direction. The whales were mostly feeding near the surface with shallow dives, there were a few pairs and some of the pairs seemed to be mothers and calves. Everyone was out on their bows and up on the bridges watching the show.

About 45 minutes later, we returned to our route to Thomas Bay. As we entered the narrow passage marked by buoys, we noticed a distinct change in watercolor to opaque turquoise as a result of the glacial flour produced by the nearby Baird Glacier. The turquoise water was flat calm and the mountains and hills were draped in shrouds of soft low clouds giving the area a peaceful, if a bit spooky or eerie, feel.

After rafting together, plans were made to venture ashore to hike Cascade Creek Trail. Dave, Konstantin and Marina of Thea, Ken, Phoebe, Sophie and Miles of Arctic Star, Lindsey and Ashley of Eldean and Jane all loaded into two dinghies and set off for the far shore. The trail here is excellent and well maintained by the forest service with great blocks of flat rock steps and areas of steps cut into the granite hillside. The forest is lush green and draped with moss and lichens. Colorful mushrooms adorn the fallen trees and the mist from Cascade Falls enfolded us. Everyone is so pleased with the beauty and impressed with the effort it must have required to build this trail. We hiked in for about 45 minutes and decided to turn around so that we could make it back to the boats by 8:00 pm.

Upon our arrival, we all returned to our warm dry boats and settled in for a calm silent night.

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