Charts of Sitka and Chichagof Island (96 Kb)
Kayaking route west of Chichagof Island (180 Kb)
The West Coast of Chichagof Island
By Robert afSandeberg (email robert@afsandeberg.com)
Charts of Sitka and Chichagof Island (96 Kb)
Kayaking route west of Chichagof Island (180 Kb)
Our close friends Tanya and Al Dodson bought a Double Nautiraid Expedition kayak last year, the same as our kayak. So Surain and I had promised them we'd go paddling with them wherever their fancy would take them. They settled for Sitka, which had also been a dream for us to visit. Although Surain's parents were married in Sitka, she had never been there.
So we were going to Sitka, but where would we paddle? We know several people who have paddled there, and it was soon clear to us that all signs pointed to the West Coast of Chichagof Island, which is linked via Peril Strait to Baranof Island, where Sitka is situated. We had made previous arrangements for a powerboat to transport us to the north end of Khaz Peninsula. Charlie picked us up on July 26th and we had a nice time with him. 2½ hours later, at 25 knot speed, he dropped us off. He would come back 8 days later to bring us back. The weather in Sitka had been glorious, but, as Charlie backed out to return to Sitka, the rain started. Or maybe I should say the mist. We were in the clouds, and it misted or drizzled almost every day. Usually we had about three or four hours a day without rain. We were glad that we were well prepared with raingear and tarps; they certainly were well used.
Klag Bay and Beyond
The current picked up as we entered The Gate, an appropriately named channel between Vorota Island and the main island of Chichagof. Several markers warned boaters for this narrow channel into Klag Bay. Fortunately the current was in our favor, so we just followed the flow. Deep forests with mostly Sitka spruce and hemlock lined the shores. Two Stellar sea lions discovered us resting on the strokes. They would dive under and pop up on the other side. Looking down I could see them swimming right under our kayak. They were very playful and kept on playing as we slowly continued.
East of Klag Bay there is a fairly large body of water enclosed by a narrow channel. Our book had described Lake Anna as a salt water lake. Following the still sizable current we half drifted and half paddled into this interesting formation. At the far end there is another, much narrower, channel into Sister Lake, also a salt water "lake".
As I started paddling into the narrow channel I noticed that the current started picking up even more. Should we go in here? When would we get out? I looked around and noticed that Al and Tanya were right behind us. At the same moment I felt a strong jolt as the current grabbed hold of our kayak and propelled us into the narrow channel. There was no return now, so we shot into Sister Lake at a speed of six knots or more.
This was another beautiful lake, but we immediately wondered how we would get back. We hadn't planned to spend the night in here. It was already four o'clock and the tide wouldn't turn until several hours later. Surain and I paddled to shore to contemplate the situation. We were delighted to see a deer grazing behind a log. He was aware of us but did not run away. Tanya and Al still out in the channel had rudder problems - one of the hinges was broken. Back on shore Al had enough material with him to be able to repair it. We had an early dinner. Sitting down on the rocks a humming bird landed a foot from my red paddle jacket. These birds are very attracted to red. We decided it was time to have another look at the swirling current. Would we be able to make it through this 0.6 nm passage?
Tanya and Al were ahead of us. Suddenly we saw their kayak racing down away from the channel. That did not look good! As we entered on the right side we struggled hard to make some headway. We would never make it back to Lake Anna at this speed, so we slid across to the left side and tried the current again. It was just slightly easier, we managed to pass a little point and then the current slacked off a little. As we proceeded slowly the current lost more power and we even entered a little eddy and glided forwards without paddling. Behind us Tanya and Al had managed to struggle past the point on the right side and were now making headway.
Sea Otter with Pup (30 Kb)
As we waited for them we studied two sea otters at the kelp near
us. Sea otters are interesting to watch. They will often float
on their backs to rest. Sometimes they will more or less stand
up in the water to get a better view. Closer to the entrance all
four of us had to struggle hard to pass the mouth of the channel
- but we made it! We camped here and hung our food high in trees
far away from our campsite. There are lots of brown bears in this
area.
The tide had turned the next morning and it was easy to continue. But alas! I discovered that I had left my watch behind. Surain and I struggled for all our worth and managed to get back to our campsite. The current was so fast that we could even see the kayak climb up the water. At the campsite I found the watch - in the sleeve of my paddle jacket!
Bears
Suddenly we saw two brown bears (there are no black bears in this area) on the eastern shore of Lake Anna. We felt safe in the kayaks and paddle closer to get within camera range. But the bears walked away before we got that close. A minute later we heard a roar that suddenly grew louder to gargantuan proportions and lasted for five minutes. It must have been the mother that was angry at us. With a chill we paddled away, realizing how vulnerable we were towards angry bears.
There were several remains from the natives and the old settlers in Klag Bay. We stopped at Indian Shack - now long since abandoned with little to show of its past - and at Chichagof, an interesting mining site abandoned at the turn of the century.
Myriad Islands
A little further north we stopped at Indian Village. It was, as all Indian villages, very strategically located with two entrances for canoes. Unfortunately there was almost nothing left of it today. We had originally planned to continue north towards the hot springs, but after the growl of the bear we headed out to the Myriad Islands instead. There is little chance of bears out in the small islands, and the idea of island hopping intrigued us. It was almost calm as we crossed Ogden Passage and reached a small unnamed island just south of Gig Pass.
We were immediately enchanted by this little island - and ended up staying three nights here. It was a thrill to see all the sea otters around us. The sea otter is an endangered species in most part of the States, but obviously not here. There were otters everywhere and we always grabbed our binoculars when we saw them, as we sat under the tarp to avoid the rain.
Al, Robert & Tanya during rainy morning (47 Kb)
One day we spent paddling around the Myriads. It is an aptly named group of innumerable islands, most of them quite small. We paddled first on the outside enjoying the great swells of the Pacific Ocean. Then we headed back on the inside. The tide was low and we found it fascinating to paddle close to the islets and study the innumerable kelp beds. Had it just stopped raining it would have been perfect …
Robert & Surain on close inspection of the kelp (30 Kb)
The second day we paddled around Herbert Graves Island, a large island north of us. Frog Rock is quite an interesting rock formation just north of Indian Village. Further north we entered Kimshan Cove with remains of homesteaders homes that still seem to be in use. On one of them there was a thermometer that showed 51 degrees Fahrenheit (10.5 Celsius). Yes, it was cold here!
Further north we stopped at Black Bay. The underwater life was particularly rich here - anemones, sea stars, and jelly fish among others.
Underwater Scenes (58 Kb)
Jelly Fish (42 Kb)
From here we paddled northwest to the top of Herbert Graves Island
and then had to fight the wind going southwest to the Pacific.
As we got closer the swells got bigger. The trees on the shore
gave way to striking rock formations of basalt with some striates
of shale. This is different from around Sitka, where there is
mostly granite. We could not but take a break and marvel at one
of nature's treasures. We had not expected to see lots of boats
on the outside with the ocean swells, and in fact we only saw
a few boats on the protected inside. And there were no other kayakers.
Once we had reached the end of the island we followed it along the Pacific towards the south. Best thing: the wind was no longer against us. After about 17 nm of paddling we got back to our camp and were rewarded by rare sunshine. We took out all our clothes, sleeping bag, etc. to dry off the moisture.
Heading South again
Robert with necklaces of navigation gear (34 Kb)
There was a change in the weather the next morning. We could feel
the stronger wind from the south and could not see very far due
to the fog. But south was where we were going today, so we stayed
close to the islands to minimize the wind in our face and against
the kayaks. Both Rough and Smooth Channels are aptly named - both
of them are exposed to the force of the Pacific, but it is only
noticeable in Rough Channel. We paused a little at the south end
of Smooth Channel and then took a deep breath and headed out from
the protection into the Pacific. Having passed the turbulence
at the end of the island, we took stock of the situation. It was
actually not as bad as I had expected. The wind had calmed down
considerably and judging from the white caps it was blowing 12-13
knots. There was still fog and we could barely see across to Khaz
Head on the other side, 1.4 nm away. The wind had also turned
and hit the side of the kayak from the ocean rather than straight
into it. So without too much hesitation we started into the waves
and wind. The waves were pretty big but our kayaks handled them
easily under these conditions.
The fog cleared up a little bit during the crossing and then started clearing more and more. We paddled by several small islands and again marveled at all the sea otters. We saw some mothers with their pups on their stomachs. One of those didn't notice our kayak and suddenly popped up very close to it, then realized its mistake and immediately dove. Though short lived it was a priceless scene, and we did wish we had been faster with the camera. The campsite was on a small island sheltered from the ocean, but it was close enough for loud surf.
We toyed a bit with the idea to paddle from here on the exposed outside of Khaz Peninsula and then across Salisbury Sound to be picked up by Charlie on Kruzof Island rather than where he dropped us off. It is completely exposed and would be an exciting paddle. But the distance is 18 miles and we really liked our campsite, where we finally were getting pretty good at arranging our tarps against the rain (though it hadn't rained today), so we decided against it.
Sunshine! It was sunny the next morning. We had been giving up hope that we'd ever see the sun up here. In the morning we paddled about an hour on the outside of Khaz Peninsula, to see some of the area we had decided not to paddle. There was no wind then, but the waves were huge and we floated on top of them like corks. Often the view in the troughs was completely hidden by the crests. The scenery was magnificent with the huge Khaz Head being the most prominent feature.
Back to Sitka
Charlie picked us up promptly the next morning. The Pacific was
much calmer than the day before, which was a blessing since it
is much rougher to ride it in his boat than it is to paddle it
in a kayak. At the south end of Khaz Peninsula we were delighted
to get a close look at a humpback whale. That was really what
had been missing before. We had seen the boil caused by the whales
a couple of days before, but it is not the same thing as actually
seeing the whale.
We were dropped off about a day and a half's paddle from Sitka. This was also a nice area for paddling. We especially loved all the different anemones. Still it didn't overshadow our love for Chichagof Island. We probably won't be back - we do like warm weather and sunshine - but it had been an incomparable experience to explore all that it had to offer.
Paddling Distances
Friday, July 16: Khaz Head->SW of Baird Island 3 nm Saturday, July 17: Klag Bay->Lake Anna 9 nm Sunday, July 18: Indian Village->Myriad Islands 12 nm Monday, July 19: W Herbert G. I.->S Myriad;Myriad Camp 11 nm Tuesday, July 20: Around Herbert Graves Island 17 nm Wednesday, July 21: SW of Baird Island 8 nm Thursday, July 22: W of Khaz Point->Around the small islands 8 nm Friday, July 23: N Neva Strait->Pt Brown 9 nm Saturday, July 24: Pt Brown->Sitka 11 nmTotal: 88 nautical miles (101 statute miles)
