July 16, Clear Cut to Vixen Point CS

After the somewhat fraught previous days, with our complicated start on the 14th with Emily's early morning Ketchikan arrival and early afternoon departure, and the challenging weather of the previous day, the 16th was a straightforward day with solid mileage.

We got a late morning start (but earlier than previous days), and early on had another deer sighting, with four deer on the beach including two fawns. We considered stopping at Meyers Chuck, but ultimately decided just to wave as we passed, a little concerned about our schedule and anticipating long days to come.

We took a short break at "Daybreak" Cove, near Lemesurier Point, just North of Meyers Chuck. This small cove is not named on the map, but the stern of a wrecked vessel is located at the top of the gravel beach. The vessel's name, "Daybreak," is clearly visible. This cove would make for a pretty campsite at neaps, though the upland did not seem well suited to camping.

Carl would have loved this one

After turning East at Lemesurier Point, striking bare peaks East of Union Bay came into view. Our crossing of Union Bay was uneventful--about three nautical miles in around an hour. After the crossing, we stopped for dinner in a cove just South of Union Point, also filling up on water, then paddled on to a campsite near Vixen Point, several miles further to the East and North. As we neared Vixen Point, we had trouble spotting beaches for potential landing sites as the tide was quite high, but found a good with with nice upland camping a bit to the South of the point. There was some bear sign in this area--a small amount of scat on the beach and some tracks--but the scat seemed older and mostly evidence of bears just passing through; not a worry.

Finished off the day with a good view of a pretty sunset over Ernest Sound.