We filled our layday at Octopus Islands with as many adventures as we could fit in. The crews from Bonum Vitae and MOJO joined in a morning hike up to Newton Lake. The trail went through a forest where evidence of logging was all around. Most of BC forests have been logged, and logging is still taking place. The stumps from old giants scattered the forest with smaller trees growing on top and all around. When a seedling takes root on top of a fallen tree it’s called a nurse tree. It supplies the seedling with nutrients as the nurse tree decomposes.

When we reached the crystal-clear waters of Newton Lake everyone took a break. The lake is a little bit warmer than the ocean and made for a wonderfully refreshing swim. Sundews were growing on a log floating in the water. Sundews are a plant that have little sticky hairs that capture bugs which the plants digest. They are beautiful little plants that also catch the sunlight on their sticky hairs on a day like today.

After making our way back down the trail we met up with our ride back to the boats for lunch in the sun. Although we are experiencing neap tides right now (smaller tidal range then average) we set out on kayaks to go see if we could find some tide pools during the low tide. Although the tide wasn’t out far enough for tide pools, we were still able to see all kinds of underwater beauty through the glassy water. Kelp forests swayed gently, and brightly colored sea stars caught our eye from the bottom.

We enjoyed an evening of snacks and company on Koa Lanai. The owners of Koa Lanai, Mark and Dorothy, hosted everyone and Matt (our flotilla captain) pulled up a full pot of spot prawns right before our gathering. We enjoyed the fresh prawns under the evening sun and felt fulfilled after a full day of soaking in the beauty of this world.

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