August 8: Greentop to Drip Point

By the 8th, marine weather forecasts were predicting the end of the unbelievably good stretch of weather we had been experiencing since at least the 2nd.  With a few more days of good weather, but a series of fronts coming through after that, I was nervous that we might get caught on the outer coast for some indeterminate amount of time.  And after a number of relatively short days, I was itching to put in a few miles.

Snack break at Imperial Passage

We said our goodbyes mid-morning on the 8th, after packing up and cleaning out the cabin, then headed out of Greentop Harbor, across the mouth of Lisianski Strait, and across Islas Bay into White Sulphur Hot Springs, where there is a Forest Service cabin and a covered enclosure over the hot springs.  Jason and Christian had a good soak while I, ambivalent about hot tubbing in that day's 70-degree weather, heated up some water to rehydrate chili for dinner.  All for the best, since we needed somebody to watch the kayaks as the tide rose.

In the end, I decided to jump in for a quick dip and a scrub, then a quick jump into the tepid ocean where the hot springs water ran into the salt.  Felt human again, drying in the sun, though it did make putting my grungy sweatpants and shirt back on a little bit of a moral challenge.

Jason and Christian looking spicy

After our stop at the hot springs, we pushed on, paddling outside of Hill Island, assisted by a growing Northerly.  We made good time to Imperial Passage, where we pulled into a sheltered slot beach, startling a lone Sitka Blacktail as paddled in.  There, a quick snack break, then East into Portlock Harbor, then Surveyor passage.  In these sheltered areas, it was easy to forget the 4' swell outside.  Plenty of sea otters and seine boats throughout.

As we neared the Northern end of Ogden Passage, we started looking, unsuccessfully, for a campsite. What we saw was mostly uneven and rocky.  We found a pleasant site at Drip Point, however, which is on a small island with a North-facing beach, and a smaller beach just S of the point, with a SW aspect.  Here, we found good tent sites and a convenient place to pull out.

One of the things I learned this summer is that I don't eat as much as I think I do--my meal plan is always a little skimpy by the standards of my paddling partners.  Par for the course, my chili dinner, planned for that evening, turned out to be a little underpowered for Jason and Christian, so we served it over a helping of mashed potatoes, which turned out to be a dynamite combination.

Cooking dinner at Drip Point, enjoying the evening light.