In late June and early July of 2007 I paddled my 14.5 foot Necky Alsek, roto-molded polyethylene-hulled kayak from Port Hardy to Burnett Bay and back, twice. Five days into the first trip I stupidly dunked my digital camera, hence the photographic documentation comes to an abrupt end in Cougar Inlet. These are the most interesting of those pictures with some commentary.
Next to the Rotary Pavillion at Storey's Beach is where I put in. My car was vandalized so although parking there is free, I don't advise it.
My first camp, near Masterman Island. It rained torrentially, off and on, all afternoon. This was taken during a brief clear moment.
An army of little crabs had occupied the beach.
Due to a very late start, I wasn't going to cover much distance today. I just paddled around the point and made camp.
Duval Point, roughly three nautical miles is dead ahead. I went for a short evening paddle to capture the funky sunset light. I'd had a long day and slept like a rock that night. The tide came within three inches of my tent. One sandal floated away and was found a few meters down the beach in the morning.
My second camp on Bell Island was chosen for keeping a watch on the straight prior to crossing to the mainland. It has an excellent view of Shelter Passage between Staples & Wishart Island.
I had just set up camp and was trying to have a short nap when some extremely loud whales showed up and started chuffing and wheezing all over my little bay. It's truly amazing how well sound travels over water.
What kind of bones are these? If anybody recognizes them, please email me --- cyberhun[at]shaw[dot]ca.
Magnificent, old growth forest.
Next morning, en-route to the mainland, I pull up for a moment on a kelp bed in the lee of little Crane Island, just offshore from my camp to make some final checks of emergency comm gear and make sure all my ducks are in a row. The blue sky/north-westerlies/pacific high-pressure regime would have been better, but instead it's mild south-easterlies --- the 0400 wx is for light SE and I can see there's no fronts coming, at least for the 20 minutes it'll take for me to reach the Deserters Group. Once at Wishart Island, I'll re-evaluate things and make camp there if neccessary.
Large ships always move a lot faster than they seem to be moving, at first. I'm more concerned about collision than anything.
Crane Island Intertidal Zone
Like a scene in a cheap horror flic, a huge black fin slices the water menacingly. I had to alter course twice to avoid this --- whatever the hell it is.
I thought I could smell something. These things are an environmental catastrophe --- obviously, full-enclosure is the way to go, not open net-cages.
Almost at Shelter Bay. Neptune was smiling that morning. This is the view back the way I came.
Location of my third camp, on the mainland side of Queen Charlotte Straight.
A gorgeous little beach that is hard to spot from offshore. You more or less have to know it's there. I got lucky, catching a glimpse of sand in between two rocks, I decided to take a closer look and was richly rewarded with both a beach and an excellent, flat spot well above high water to pitch my tent.
The wood that refused to die.
At the risk of sounding corny, these places are magical.
Dude, this is so gnarly...
Everywhere you look, there's another thing to photograph.
The Southgate Group. I'm heading north, following the shoreline.
Low water. These anemonies must have a rough time in summer when it's hot and sunny and low tide.
Schooner Channel. If you're flexible in your scheduling, you can get the tidal currents to act as your personal conveyor belt, doing most of the work for you. If you buck the tide, you're in for a grueling slog. I timed it right and got a several knot push through Schooner Channel.
Rock face near Nakwakto rapids. Boats killing time waiting for slack water to enter Seymour Inlet leave their calling cards here.
Cougar Inlet was full of jellyfish.
This was my fourth camp of the trip. I took two more photos and then dunked the camera.
All of Cougar Inlet is steep-sided and rocky except for the very end of the inlet, where there is a small islet with an excellent, flat and grassy area to set up a tent on.
This was the last photograph I took before the camera died. Sadly, all the best things to photograph appeared after the camera died --- sea lions, Burnett Bay, etc, etc.
Because it had rained almost constantly and I was getting a little damp around the edges, I decided to push on to Burnett Bay where I had heard there was a cabin. I was very impressed with the Slingsby Rip --- many mariners simply refuse to transit off Slingsby Channel on a strong ebb tide, and I can see why.