5-Day Sample Trip:

Misty Fjords Cruise - Ketchikan Round Trip

Sample Trips are a good guide but trips will vary depending on weather, tides, guest requests and wildlife opportunities.

~ Day 1: Leaving Ketchikan ~

Pictures from left to right: The waters of Clover Passage north of Ketchikan, Leaving town with Kayaks ready to go.

Welcome aboard! Meet your crew and fellow travelers. We depart Ketchikan, heading north through Tongass Narrows, traveling for only a couple of hours so we have time to try kayaking before dinner.

~ Day 2 ~

Captain Vancouver meeting with Chief Olnostoy in Port Stewart (1794)

Permission for reproduction provided by the artist Mark Meyers, Bude, Cornwall England.

We travel north up Behm Canal, passing Port Stewart where Captain Vancouver met with Chief Olnostoy in 1794. We watch the water turn a milky blue as we approach the Unuk river flowing in from Canada through the coast range. In this area we cross the NW boundary of Misty Fjords and anchor at Saks Cove for the night. We check the estuary for Brown bears and kayak in the scenic harbor.

~ Day 3: Into the Misty Fjords ~

Kayaking at the head of Walker Cove in tranquil calm waters

Departing Saks Cove, we head for one of the two magnificent fjords of Misty Fjords, Walker Cove. Here cliffs rise almost 3,000 feet from the waters edge. We anchor at the head of Walker Cove for the night. Kayaking along the cliffs is exhilarating and cruising at the head often produces bear sightings.

~ Day 4: More Misty Fjords & New Eddystone Rock ~

Pictures left to right: Crewmate Bill plotting out course for the day, Kayaking at the head of Rudyerd Bay, Waterfalls of the Misty Fjords, Venturing off for a beachcombing mission on New Eddystone Rock, Native Pictograph marking a Tlingit shamans cave burial site.

Today we depart Walker Cove for the jewel of Misty Fjords, Rudyerd Bay. We anchor at the base of the dramatic Punchbowl wall soaring to over 3000 ft. from the waters edge. A stream-side trail takes up along a cascading waterfall to Punchbowl Lake. The lake was created 450,000 years ago as volcanic lava flow plugged the valley in which it sits. A nearby cliff of columnar basalt is testimony to this violent event creating this beautiful sub alpine lake. For the night we anchor off the estuary at the head where bears are frequent visitors. Cruising up the fjord, we pull the boat up to a cliff to examine a pictograph marking a shaman’s burial site. Pigeon guillemots and gulls nest across the fjord. Marble Murlettes are often seen on the water. We keep our eyes open for seal pups born and reared in the niches and alcoves at the base the cliff faces.

Leaving Rudyerd Bay, we pass Seal Rocks where harbor seals haul out wait for passing salmon and occasionally are attacked here by orcas. We anchor near iconic New Eddystone rock, the most photographed site in the monument. Here captain George Vancouver traded and had lunch with Tlingit Natives from a near-by village site. We head to the village site and examine ancient stone fish traps. From here, if the tide is right, we cruise to a natural soda springs. With a little Kool-aide, we make our own sodas! We anchor at the mouth of Ella Creek for the night. The stream provides an opportunity for salmon and trout fishing. Also available is a good low gradient trail to Ella Lake. Reaching the lake 2½ miles away may be a stretch for most. However, a short hike will bring hikers to grassy meadows, muskegs and a ponds, ideal places to watch for birds and wildlife.

From here it is on to Shoalwater pass, a narrow scenic waterway known for black bear and a beautiful pictograph. We continue south in Behm Canal to one of the channel islands to gain some insights into the geological formation of Misty Fjords. Magma dikes and a marble deposit tell a story about moving tectonic plates colliding with the North American plate and creating this magnificent area. We anchor for the night at Foggy Bay. Nearby Foggy Point being named by Captain Vancouver who had a surprise encounter with it in the fog in 1793.

~ Day 5: Foggy Bay & home to Ketchikan ~

Photos from Left to right: M/V Misty Fjord underway south of Ketchikan; Kayaking to white Sands beach, Sunset from remote anchorage in Foggy Bay. Map Background: Showing Foggy Bay on right

In Foggy Bay, with kayak and zodiac we explore this diverse area. Islands with sandy white beaches form a protective screen from the ocean swells. Adventurous kayakers may want to go around to the outside of the islands and experience the exhilaration of the ocean swells coming through Dixon Entrance.

Beachcombers can cross the small islands to the outside to check through the piles of driftwood for Japanese glass floats. With kayak or zodiac, we will explore Very Inlet a picturesque narrow winding waterway, known locally as a “salt chuck” We will note that some of sea birds here are different than those that we have seen in the fjords. Commercial fishermen are usually active in this area. We may see purse seiners catching and unloading salmon. The nearby abandoned Tlingit Cape Fox village site adds a sense of history to our experience.