August 6: Basalt Knob to Bohemia Basin

Beautiful Pelican, Alaska

Another mid-morning departure (no headless salmon or bear tracks on the beach this morning!), with plenty of time before the ferry's arrival, mid-afternoon, in Pelican.  We caught another tailwind down the inlet, and arrived before Noon, pulling out just beside the ferry dock on a small gravel beach. Once in town, we found out that the ferry would be delayed by several hours, which left us plenty of time to explore.  Unfortunately, it was Sunday, so not much was open (not that there's a lot in town anyways), but we managed to eat a pizza and enjoy the sunny weather.  The community of Pelican is mostly built on pilings along a boardwalk around a tidal area; feels a bit like a college dorm filled with fishermen and old hippies.

Looking towards Pelican from Bohemia Basin

After a bit of a wait, and some conversation with the locals, the ferry arrived and we unpacked and set out.  Our morning tailwind had strengthened a bit, and as we needed to backtrack several miles to the Eastern end of Lisianski strait, we now faced a significant headwind.  We were able to duck out of the wind a bit by paddling up the Western side of the inlet, and were accompanied by a family of Killer Whales for several miles, which helped us keep our minds off our troubles.  At one point, the largest of the Orcas was no further than 75 or 80 feet away.  Quite a treat.  When we turned West into Lisianski Strait, we were happily well-protected from the wind, though we faced a strong contrary current for a few miles.  Nevertheless, we made it to the Bohemia Basin Forest Service shelter without too much trouble, riding eddies most of the way.

The shelter itself is a typical Forest Service emergency shelter: reservation-free, no-fee, three sided Adirondack with a wood stove and wooden bunks.  It was also unfortunately typical in that the party before us had not been especially conscientious about keeping a clean camp, and there was quite a bit of food waste around the site.  Alaskans, pack your food waste out!  Those eggshells and tuna cans are easy to carry and if you leave them, say, sitting in the middle of the fire ring, they might lead to unpleasant issues for future campers!

Despite our triumphs and struggles with wind earlier in the day, the evening was quite calm, therefore also quite buggy.  Christian and Jason are apparently tougher than I am, and slept quite well despite mosquitos and white socks.  I decided to set up my tent (without fly) inside the shelter in order to stay sane, however, and spent a pleasant night.