Ketchikan, Alaska

My wife and I just got back from an Alaskan Cruise, and during our trip, we got to take in a short paddle in Ketchikan with Southeast Seakayaks . There were so many eagles I lost count. We have a lot of eagles here in Newfoundland, but nothing like this is in Alaska. There is a 20 ft tidal range, and we paddled at low tide, so there were lots of underwater sealife visible: starfish, sun stars, and sea cucumber, sea urchins, anemones, etc... We also saw a harbour seal, but no orcas, although we did see some Orcas later from the cruise ship. It was a great paddle, just too short.

What a backdrop for a paddle

Our guide, Greg getting a starfish

Underside of the starfish

Inside the Tongass Narrows

Eagle Island in front of Angie, with an active eagle nest, not visible in this picture.

An eagle keeps watch over his domain

Notice how the tide runs right to the trees

An example of saltwater pruning. The high tide keeps the tree branches from growing any lower

Me soaking in the scenery

A happy couple

Sea cucumber

Greg plucks a sea cucumber out of the water

Trees are a bit bigger here than back home

Underside of a sun star

Heading back to the launch

All smiles

Clarkes Beach to Hibb's Cove

On Sunday afternoon Trent and I got out for a short paddle from Clarkes Beach to Hibb's Cove. The weather started out crappy, but it got pretty nice as the afternoon went on. Pretty nice coastline, very rocky and rugged, with lots of small beaches to stop for lunch or a break. The total distance was about 10kms, about 2 hours of leisurely paddling. It was very sheltered most of the way, but once we got past Blow Me Down, we could really feel the swell from the Northeast and had to move off from the shore a bit to avoid the rebounding waves and crashing surf. Too bad, because there were some spots that it would have been nice to get in among for a poke around.

The put-in at Clarkes Beach

Some nice Christmas trees right there

Rugged rocky shores

Interesting rock outside Ship Cove

Threadin' the needle

You can see the tide was pretty low

Cliffs at Blow Me Down

Slipway at Hibb's Cove

Avondale

Last week, Trent and I hit the water in Avondale for a short evening paddle. My work schedule has gotten very crazy, and it looks like I will be working 6 days a week for the rest of the summer. This really hurts my paddling plans, but I will just have to make hay while the sun shines......and paddle when my schedule (and the weather) allows.