Since we didn’t have far to go to Meyer’s Chuck, we planned a 9:00 a.m. start today. However, as the day progressed, the predicted forecast for tomorrow made it prudent to continue to Kassan to avoid possible inclement weather in Clarence Strait tomorrow. While underway, we sighted a few humpback whales.

After passing Meyer’s Chuck, many of the boats were treated to a dozen or so Dall’s porpoise that came to play in their bow wave. Dall’s porpoise are extremely fast swimmers, and they had no trouble keeping up with us as we cruised at about 8 or 9 knots. They zig zag back and forth in front of the boats, surface for a quick breath and then dip below the surface with their powerful flukes driving them on.  Occasionally they tip to the side to look up as we peer down at them in awe. Once they left one boat, they quickly changed direction or dropped back to join another and spread the joy.

While cruising, we passed numerous secluded pebble beaches loaded with huge driftwood trees, evidence of the high energy winter storms that tossed them like toothpicks onto the highest rocks against the foot of the forest. Harbor seals were hauled out on nearby rocks with a backdrop of mountains eight or more layers deep. The layered mountains faded from dark forest green in the foreground to a lighter grey green as each successive layer became more distant.

Numerous types of birds were sighted, eagles perched in trees overlooking Kassan Bay, guillemots and scoters paddling on the surface and gulls perched on floating trees that hadn’t yet been grounded ashore. A flock of gulls lifted off and flew in front of La Vida as if to guide her on her way. As we passed the Kassan, the northernmost village of the Haida, we admired the welcoming totem at the head of the dock and a tall totem the that looked as if it included many Haida people, one in the center that seemed to be emerging from a clam shell.

After about seven hours of cruising, we arrived at Karta Bay, a cozy bay with a few smaller beaches and a creek filled with jumping pink salmon preparing to migrate upstream. After we had anchored and rafted, Jane, Annie and Chris went out kayaking to try to get the lay of the land and find the trail heads that were indicated on our topo maps. This was our first time here and we wanted to plan a hike for tomorrow that would take us to Karta and Salmon lakes. Other guests ventured out in dinghies to explore and try fishing for pink salmon jumping all around us. Tomorrow is a lay day and we were looking forward to some adventures!

P.S. Is Alaska on your bucket list? We can take you there! Email us to reserve your spot on our 2023 Mother Goose AK Flotilla. charters@nwexplorations.com