July 14, Ketchikan to near Caamano Point

Getting ready to roll!

I am, as readers no doubt know or have gathered, a social person. I enjoy the company of others and don't always do very well alone, so was a little worried about how my attitude would be during the (few, relatively brief) solo stretches of my trip. All in all, I've held up better than expected. My first week was a grind--tiring and at times scary--but I can't say I was especially lonely. Basically, just beginning-trip wear and tear on my body. And my solo week from Prince Rupert was really quite lovely, though I certainly missed the excellent companionship of the inimitable Carl Salk. But by and large, I enjoyed being alone with my thoughts and setting my own pace.



Even so, it was such a wonderful treat to finally meet up with my beautiful wife Emily on the 14th, after having been apart for about two months. She arrived at 3:30 in the morning on the M/V Matanuska, one of Alaska's larger ferries. Initially, my plan was to meet her at the ferry terminal to help her carry her kayak off, then take a taxi back to the hotel, where we would launch, but oddly, I was unable to find a taxi company that would carry us and the kayak. In the end, I wound up renting a car briefly to get the job done--a little hit to the wallet, but not too bad.

After the very early arrival, we both were happy to get a short nap, then eat the hotel breakfast. This, followed by a late checkout and an early afternoon launch. Very early on, we spotted a pod of whales, maybe a dozen. More than I had seen through the whole trip so far!

One of us is looking pretty fuzzy!

Emily is a somewhat slower paddler than me, an I wasn't sure how she would feel after a wild ferry adventure of her own. The answer, as it turns out, was "seasick." But I figured we would aim for a possible campsite at Point Higgins, at the Northern end of our passage up Revillagigedo Island, and cross over Behm Canal if the conditions were right and if we felt up to it.

Despite the late start, we made it to Point Higgins for an early dinner--breakfast burritos for us--which we enjoyed in the sun. This area really should make a lovely kayak campsite, through it is bordered by private land on homes several hundred yards away on both sides. There is a creek for water, and good beach and upland tentsites. The landing is very good. Though campers might have to share their Alaskan paradise with the occasional jogger and dog walker.

Although Emily was tired by this point, the water in Behm Canal looked very calm, and we finished our dinner around seven, giving us a few hours to do the crossing. She was a little ambivalent, but ultimately decided that we should go for it, no doubt after my first-class bullshit artistry kicked in, trying to convince her that (as I thought) a crossing that evening was the safest and most sensible choice. The crossing took us a bit longer than I expected, and Emily was a bit uncomfortable so far from land, but we were able to watch a first class sunset on the way, and arrived at a good campsite on an island Southeast of Caamano Point with enough time to set up camp and set a bear bag (necessary our first night or two).

The campsite itself was above a narrow gravel beach tucked into the rocky shore on the island Southeast of Caamano Point. The landing is a bit rocky, with kelp, at very low tides. No water there, but very comfortable upland tentsites. The lights of Ketchikan were visible across the canal, but we were already out of cell coverage.

Very, very good to be with Emily!