Paddling to Skagway, June 7: Echo Cove to Point St. Mary

Glassy conditions paddling out of Echo Cove

After various and sundry travels in May, which I may blog about elsewhere, Emily and I returned to Juneau about two weeks ago, and after recovering from jet lag (hit me pretty hard this time coming back from Europe), got the idea in my head that it might be time to do the Juneau to Skagway paddle. Weather looks good for the next few days, and it will be a good shakedown for my more ambitious trip later this summer.

Emily dropped me off at Echo cove after work and a quick dinner; I had the idea that I would paddle just a few miles, perhaps to the mouth of Sawmill Creek, just out of Echo Cove, where I've camped before. I also believed there would be a camping spot at Point Mary, across the mouth of Berners Bay, which should be a pretty spot in the morning. I was on the water around 7:30 or 8, and near Sawmill Creek at around 8:45, which would have been a reasonable time to stop, but conditions were glassy, and paddling across Berners into the Sunset above the Chilkat Mountains was beautiful, so I kept going. The evening crossing reminded me a bit of the evening last year when Emily and I paddled across Behm Canal to Caamano Point (sp?) in the setting sun.

Paddling across Berners Bay in the sunset,
Chilkat range in the distance

Beach here is a little rough at high—bowling-ball sized cobbles and rocks, but it looks like it would be sand at lower tides. No water, but the view is superb. Beach camping wouldn't work, but camping in the trees is good.

There are a few rocks off shore here that are serving as a seal haul out, an I can hear them splashing around as I type this.