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Did you know we'd been to Alaska?

Last year, sitting in the blistering sun in Croatia, we started thinking about a big trip for this year. Where could we go that wouldn't be so hot??? It came in a flash - Alaska.

Wendy and I had been on a commercial trip in Prince William Sound in 1998, and we felt reasonably confident that we could put a trip together ourselves. First thing, book flights, then you are committed!

Hundreds of emails, faxes and telephone calls, and not a few sleepless nights, later found Nick and Kath Bulmer, Wendy and me in Whittier, staring forlornly at a mountain of gear and food, that looked to be at least twice the size of the boats it was supposed to fit in. We had been able to hire British boats from Alaska Canoe and Kayak Base, in Homer, via the internet. We had two Romanies and an Aleut 2. The Romany is a normal sized single sea kayak, but luckily the Aleut is a huge double, 24 feet long, which helped solve the capacity problem, but even then, all the boats were well and truly stuffed when we set off.

The plan was to paddle out of Whittier, then make our way into the very remote southeast corner of Prince William Sound, hopefully getting into Icy Bay and Whale Bay, and visiting the ruined settlement of Chenega on the way back. The route was in the shape of a large figure 6, finishing at Point Nowell, about 50 miles from Whittier, where we would be picked up by a charter boat. Somewhere around 110 miles over ten days, with eight days paddling and two days spare to allow for bad weather.

It was early afternoon when we eventually got on the water, with a fair distance to cover to our first campsite at Surprise Cove. This is a State Campground, which sounds posh. In reality, it's a series of tent sized timber platforms, joined by duckboards. There was also a communal bear safe, into which we had to cram our food. Ten days food for four people, plus enough for a couple of extra days if necessary, takes up a lot of room. Luckily we were alone on the campsite, so we didn't have to share this facility.

The next day we started off with a four mile crossing, surrounded by crystal clear views of mountains and glaciers. Turning south into Culross Passage, we headed towards our next target of Applegate Island. A long day, 7:30 off the water, followed by setting camp and cooking.

Taking precautions to avoid bears added a long time to each day. The boats had to be completely emptied, all food and anything with an odour (probably including us at the end of ten days) had to be hung in trees out of reach of the indigenous black bears. Tents had to be separated from the cooking area by at least 50 yards, and the clothes worn whilst cooking and eating had to be hung up with the food. This added at least two hours to the start and finish of each day. Despite these precautions and tiredness, sleep doesn't come easily when every slight noise is certainly made by a huge, rabid and ravenous bear, which is about to drag you screaming from your sleeping bag. Aren't imaginations great....?

Another open crossing south across the entrance to Port Nellie Juan, and continuing along the coast to the entrance to Dangerous Passage. (Sounds a bit like a Daphne du Maurier novel).

We carried a VHF radio for emergencies, but from this point onwards, we were out of range, so we felt it was getting a bit more remote and serious. We had not seen another soul since leaving Whittier, and the only boats seen were a long way away.

Heading southwest down Dangerous Passage, we had another long day, with deteriorating weather, camping at Jackson Point, in sight of the entrance to Icy Bay.

Heading south next day with a seven mile crossing to Verdant Island and Dual Head, we decided to have the rest of the day off, as a rest. The plan was now to stay at Dual Head for two nights, with a day trip into Icy Bay and its offshoot, Nassau Fjord. Icy Bay seemed a bit of a misnomer at this stage as we hadn't actually seen any ice, other than that stuck to the mountains.

Exclamations of surprise next morning from Nick, as overnight the ice had been delivered. The steady northeast wind had kept the ice bottled up in Icy Bay. The wind had dropped overnight, and ice galore had come out on the tide. We packed and headed into Icy Bay. The ice got thicker as we headed further in, and it eventually prevented us making any progress, so we headed to the shore for lunch and photos. The ice moves constantly, and within an hour, we could pick a route across the two mile wide bay and into Nassau Fjord. The view was impressive, with Chenega Glacier dominating the view at the head of the bay. Two miles away, the glacier comes down to the sea in a face over two miles wide. The noise as it calved was incredible, and the waves caused by the icebergs falling reached us amazingly quickly. It was idyllic, without a trace of human influence. Eventually, we picked our way back through the ice to the campsite. The excitement didn't end there. I was looking out to sea, at what I thought was a sea otter. This seemed to be swimming directly towards us, so camera and binoculars to hand, I climb onto a rock for a better view. Hmmm, sea otters don't have ears sticking out like that, and they don't swim like that either..... oh s**t it's a bear! Well, lets see what it does. It comes closer, and .... It's not a bear, relief or what?...... it keeps coming......I think it's a wolverine.... What's one of those? Anyway, as bold as brass, it swam around the rock I was standing on, walked onto the beach and ran off through our camp. Wolverines are perhaps best described by thinking of a cross between a badger and a rottweiler, with the charm and personality of a football hooligan. They have a fearsome reputation, and evidently even grizzly bears leave them well alone. It had just swum about six miles across sea with icebergs, I don't think we could have shooed it away!

We had to make a decision about our plans at this stage. We had allowed two days spare in case of bad weather or other problems. We had lost one with the effect of the time taken setting and striking camp. If we went into Whale Bay (looking for ????), we would have to lose the other, and we still had quite a distance to cover back to our pick up point, and needed the day just in case. Reluctantly, Whale Bay was abandoned, and we headed towards Chenega. This is an old Indian settlement which was destroyed by the tidal wave caused by the earthquake of 1963. Quite a number of people, including many children were killed, and the remains of the village are left as a memorial. Landing is not permitted, so we sat in the boats, looked and pondered. We headed north up the eastern side of Chenega Island to camp. The weather had been settled for the last two days, so it was a fairly relaxed paddle to the campsite.

Weather back to normal the following day, with a building wind, and the threat of rain. Completing the circumnavigation of Chenega Island brought us back to the entrance to Dangerous Passage, where we started to look for our campsite. We couldn't find a thing! Decision time again. A quick chat over the options, and we decided to head back to the end point at Pt Nowell. The weather deteriorated further, so now it was pouring with rain as well as being windy. Eventually landing at the beach in the early evening cold, wet and fairly demoralised.

Plans for a day paddle were scotched by the weather the next day, so we watched the rain, clouds, rain, sea lions, rain and clouds. Did a bit of fishing. Skilled teamwork by Nick and me (he caught it, I killed and cleaned it, he cooked it) saw us tucking into a magnificent feast of fresh fish, well we got about a spoonful each, it was only a little fish.

We were treated to the sight of Orcas hunting in line abreast in Knight Island Passage, too far away to photograph. We all had binoculars out watching them, cameras safely out of the way in the tents, when one swam past the campsite about twenty feet from the beach.

Waiting on the beach next morning, for a man we hadn't met or even spoken to, to turn up with his boat to take us back to Whittier, chilling out and reflecting on the trip, not wanting it to be over. Matt turned up over an hour late due to bad sea conditions. An interesting time was had emptying the boats and loading them onto his launch. There was quite a choppy sea, and this had to be done afloat.

An exciting, high speed trip, arriving at Whittier in torrential rain, and it was all over.

The trip of a lifetime - well, until the next one!

Pete Bridgstock

Last Modified: 7 October, 2003