Outer South Baranof: July 16, Red Bluff to Wilson Cove

Seiner working near Point Gardner

Low slack was at 10, so the goal was to be out by 9:30.  Of course, missed the goal by an hour for some reason, but still managed to benefit from the strong flood push, paddling North to Nelson Bay, then ferry gliding Northeast to Point Gardner at the Southern end of Admiralty.  The area near Point Gardner evidently can develop tide rips, but I saw no sign of them, probably because I was arriving near enough to high slack (though I did experience some lumpiness due to wind and current in the first half of the crossing).  Weather was generally calm, though, with 2' seas or less, and only a little drizzle as I paddled from Red Bluff to Nelson Bay on the Baranof Island side of the strait.

Took a break at a small beach just North and West of Point Gardner and watched a seiner work for a bit.  That location could be a lovely campsite with a great view to the South and West.  There were also many good camping beaches I passed over the next several miles, riding the rising tide, then hugging the shoreline and trying to take advantage of eddies where possible.  Paddling along the shoreline of this part of Admiralty was interesting; the intertidal zone was often made of interesting rock formations (black rock, probably basalt?) that were often covered at high tide.  Paddling over them and the visible intertidal life living on and around them was neat, and paddling around and through basalt structures poking out of the water made for interesting paddling.  

Made very good progress--a 20+ mile day--but stopped at what was, in retrospect, an odd location with only marginal camping, no water, and lots of bear sign near the Southern opening to Wilson Cove.  Probably would have been better to continue on to the other side of the cove, with several pretty beaches, or to stop several miles earlier, well short of Point Wilson.  Embarrassed to admit that I may have been hoping for cell phone reception so that I could call to arrange lodging in Angoon and, more importantly, so that I could call home.  If that's what I was thinking, I was not in luck, though I was fortunate in having a family of eagles close at hand as I made camp.

View Southwest from Point Gardner, looking toward Baranof Island