The foggy mountain-scapes of Desolation Sound all caught us off guard as with such a classic pacific northwest morning we weren’t entirely expecting to see such tall peaks. We made our way out into the grey and made a quick float over to Tenedos Bay. The trek was around 10 miles and took us a little less than 2 hours, getting us anchored and rafted in the early afternoon. This left us a perfect amount of time to eat lunch and gather a group for a hike towards Melanie Cove.

Our hike was the lushest scenery yet. We took a little extra time to explore to the right of Lake Unwin, checking out the rafts of massive logs and lakeside vegetation, then made our way back down the trial and towards our original route. The trail itself was so bright green we found ourselves stopping and checking out the small details yet again. Mushrooms in almost every fallen stump and I had to keep reminding myself to look up because there too were mushrooms growing like shelves 10s of feet above our heads on both the fir and cedar.

Walking along a babbling creek was so very soothing, and as I stayed behind checking on the group as we went it was hard to miss the smiles on everyone’s face. We chatted about our lives back home and our interest in the life that took refuge in such a dense forest, agreeing that it wouldn’t be the worst space to set up shop. Winds were blowing in on us and kept the Witch’s Hair lichen almost horizontal the whole time we were hiking, making for a stunning show. The white caps on Unwin Lake were catching our eyes too as we ascended the granite peaks, pointing out the bright red Madronas and lime green mosses covering the wet sides of the shoreline.

We almost made our way to the end of the hike, which incredible would have spit us out on the other side of the peninsula that we will be taking refuge in tomorrow night, but as the winds rolled in a bit stronger and the clouds got a bit darker, we decided it made the most sense to head back to camp. The trek back was even more beautiful as the grey rolling in made the natural colors pop to the next degree and we took a bit longer to get back home, making turning back early something we were all excited about.

Exploring during the Fall months in the Northern Hemisphere may be a bit damp but living on the water and spending our days in the bright green forests has been nothing but rejuvenating. Each day more of us explore the lands around us and spend time workout out our sea legs. The conjunct of both the macro-life on the water, and the micro-life on land has kept our fleet’s stoke high! Cozying back into our boats for the night has us so very excited for tomorrow’s float towards Prideaux Haven, letting the soft winds and light rain lull us to sleep earlier than the last few nights, boding well for a stunning day in store. Day 5 was a lovely adventure, and one that keeps us guessing for what could get better than this.

P.S. Is Desolation Sound on your bucket list? We can take you there! Reserve your spot on our 2022 Desolation Sound Flotilla today.