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| Misty Fiords National Monument Behm Canal |
The name alone, "Misty Fjords," just makes you want to visit this 2.3 million acre National Forest, much of it designated as a wilderness area. With the regions 254+ days of rain a year, it conjures up a moody and brooding Alaska, full of misty rain and wispy fog. So imagine our surprise when we arrived to blue skies and bright sunlight. We later spoke to people who have visited up to 5 times over the past 10 years and they have never seen the Fjords in anything but rain. They never got a chance to see the tops of the 4,000 - 5,000 foot surrounding mountains. But fear not, even though we entered in the sunlight, days later we exited in mist.
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| Punchbowl Cove |
The steep mountains and deep inlets of the Fjords were carved by glaciers thousands of years ago and some of the granite cliffs look like they were clawed by a giant bear with deep groves and waterfalls pouring down their sides. There are charming coves with adorable names branching off the Behm Canal, the main canal running through the wilderness area, each more jaw droppingly beautiful than the last.
We spent our first night in Shoalwater Pass, anchored, with just two other boats. Jim immediately set out his crab pot and within two hours came back with dinner - two large male crabs. We are truely living off the grid now, no electricity, foraging for food, eating crab by tearing off the claws with our bare hands. Ah, life in remote Alaska.
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| Looking Unhappy with the Knowledge Of What He Must Do Next |
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| Sunning While My Man Slays Dinner  On day two we cruised for hours through the Fjords marveling at the sights and the stillness - there are no roads, no power lines, no way to reach the area except by boat or float plane. And while we saw just one other boat, we did see float planes, diving down to the shoreline for a quick stop for tourist photo ops and then buzzing off again like WWII fighter planes. We anchored for the night in Walkers Cove, a place so remote and magical that we stayed for two nights. There were no other boats in the cove except for a tourist boat that disgorged 25 kayakers for the day and then left promptly at 5 PM. It was just us and two grizzlies for the next two nights. |
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| Anchored in Walkers Cove |
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| Yikes!
While thrilling to see the bears, they presented a challenge for us as they controlled the shore. Every morning and evening, for hours at a time, they combed the beach hunting for food. They just came out of hibernation and were hungry and insatiable. We dinghy-ed Zippy to shore under close watch - Jim would man the dinghy, ready for a quick get away, while I guarded Zippy on shore. Do you see anything wrong with this scenario? But I'm sure Jim would've waited for us....
 
Sunset in the Misty Fjords
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