Lake Eva & Red Bluff Bay
We woke up to a cold, wet morning near the mouth of Peril Strait, a long waterway between the islands of Baranof and Chicago. The morning was filled with lots of activities onshore at Lake Eva in Hanus Bay. This small Cove gave us the opportunity to sea kayak, hike a long, moderate or short walk or Zodiac cruise along the shoreline.
Those of us who chose to sea kayak had quite an adventure trying to explore the shoreline before the tide went out mid-morning, while spotting bald eagles in flight. For those of us who chose to hike the trails, we hiked through a path of sunshine and rain, walking through Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock . A semi-muddy path through skunk cabbage and Devil’s Club plants led to the beautiful Lake Eva. We all enjoyed our hikes, many described it as spectacular, great, wonderful, but my favorite was, “The path through the skunk cabbage was odiferous.”
All afternoon we cruised through Chatham Strait in search of wildlife, only to find ourselves in swells because of high winds. It was a time we spent either napping, having a spa treatment, reading a book, shopping in our Lindblad Global Market, listening to Linda’s presentation about “Building a Forest” or playing a game with our families. It was a nice time to enjoy some downtime.
Just before cruising through Frederick Sound, we entered Red Bluff Bay, known as a scenic gem. It was surrounded by many gorgeous sights, cascading waterfalls, very evergreen forests reflecting in the sea, some sea birds flying around us and a narrow passageway that made this gem a beauty to see. The typical Alaska rainy weather did not tear anyone apart from bundling up in raingear with binoculars and going out on deck to see this spectacular bay.
We listened to the sounds of the waterfalls and the raindrops plunging into the water. While huddled on the bow, we spotted in the distance two brown bears walking along the shoreline. With so many wonders to focus on, a choice of two brown bears on our bow and cascading waterfalls on our stern, this was a great way to end the day.
