This morning we departed Rockfish Harbor with the intention of traveling east around Talunkwan Island through Laskeet Bay on the outside and back inside to Crescent Inlet which is nestled in a very protected inlet on Moresby Island.

The waters were calm throughout the entire journey, even on the outside as we rounded the points. We entered Cresent Bay through a long narrow passage. The inner part of Crescent Inlet lies outside the Gwaii Haanas NPR boundary.  We continued to the far head of the inlet, a huge shallow estuary filled with marshy grasslands and mountain sides of old spruce, cedar and hemlock forests reaching out over the waterline as if there wasn’t enough room on land. While building the raft and anchoring, we could see two black bears and a pair of deer in the meadow. As soon as possible, kayaks were launched and many of us paddled in to get a closer look.

Some areas had been logged years earlier but the trees along the shore had been spared and their lower, moss-covered branches extended out over the water. Nate, Jane and Chris hiked into the forest and located the old logging road, still wide but filled in with small alders and signs that the bears used this path regularly. The even terrain of the old road made hiking much easier until we came upon a landslide that wiped the cliff clean and forced us to return to the boat.

As evening approached, more bears and deer were sighted in the grassy meadow and more sightseeing trips were made to the nearshore. The waters were glassy calm near the raft providing, photo opportunities with beautiful reflections of the sky. A gently undulating, rusty colored Lion’s Mane jellyfish passed through the reflective water, captured in a picture as it were moving through the sky.

Since we are outside the park boundaries, we were able to build a raft with four of the boats. Rafts offer many advantages, firstly they take up less area and make room for more boats when bays are tight. However, in Cresent, space was not limited. Added advantages include socializing with other boaters, opportunities to share items with each other and easy access to Deception staff for launching kayaks, dinghies or helping with any issues or questions. Anchoring individually isn’t difficult and offers sweet solitude, 360-degree views from every window and silence from generators. Each boat is also free to veer from the planned itinerary, go their own way and explore other places. Each boat can make their own decisions daily adding to the flexible nature of Mother Goose cruising.