Our first Grizzly!

Anchored in Elle Cove on Baranof Island. On the short 8 NM ride up Chatham Straight the humpbacks put on a show. We saw a multitude of blows and a half dozen flukes before a deep dive. After dropping the hook we enjoyed lunch on the aft deck and Macky spotted a bear on shore. He was a lighter brown and had the distinctive grizzly hump on his back. Our first grizzly! He ate grass and we all enjoyed a leisurely lunch together for well over an hour.
Put the dinghy down and explored Waterfall Cove and Kasnyku Falls.
The steep granite sides of our Anchorage cascades up to snowy ridges. Old growth spruce, cedar, and hemlock cover the slopes.

Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island

Father's Day

It was a great day today, starting at our launch from anchor at 4:00 in the morning.  The plan was to ride the ebb currents down Frederick Sound. Then catch the flood current six miles up Chatham Strait to Warm Spring Bay.  It does make it a little easier to drag yourself out of bed at 3:40 when it's already getting light.  The plan worked very well and the forecasted wind and waves held off.  55 nautical miles and we arrived at 11:30, plenty of time to enjoy the hot springs.

What a cool place with a huge waterfall roaring in the bay, little cabins lining the water all connected by board walks, a hike to Baranof Lake and two places to soak in the hot springs.  First we hiked up to the pair of "grotto" pools on the side of the waterfall.  This was incredible, but the water was too hot for me.  So we went on up to the lake before returning to the bay with three private hot tub rooms overlooking the waterfalls and the bay.  A quick run down to the boat secured beer and guacamole.  The tub's two water inlets, one from the hot springs and the second from the ice cold river made it easy to get the perfect temperature. Aaaahhh, we've been pretty cold on our trip at times.  This was dreamy.  Our favorite anchorage so far!