Club Expedition to Alaska “Day 6”
21st August (Tuesday) – Island Halfway up Unakwik Inlet to Meares Bay and return “Return to Misery Cove”
We woke up to find it was still raining. We took down our tents and loaded up our kayaks in the rain and then set off for Mears Glacier.
It was a cold and wet paddle with plenty of waterfalls to be seen, including one particularly big one which a few people wanted to play in. Personally, I was so cold and wet, I was sure that any swim would be certain death!
We were not disappointed by the sea otters, who were still floating around all over the place, despite the rain and the cold. As we got closer to the glacier, grey seals were also becoming more common (at least they have blubber to deal with the cold!).
We also encountered our first icebergs… or were they bergy bits?
When we stopped for elevenses, we were all cold, wet through and, to be honest, miserable. Keith recommended that it may not be a good idea for us to continue to the glacier today because it was only going to get colder as we got closer to the glacier. We all agreed to turn back and return to our previous night’s camp.
As we came around the island back to our beach, we were greeted by a deer on the beach.
As we reinforced our man-made camp platforms against the anticipated higher tide and re-pitched our wet tents in the rain, we decided to name this cove ‘Misery Cove’.
Finally, around 4pm that afternoon, and after 50 hours of non-stop rain, the rain stopped, and the clouds cleared just enough for us to glimpse the surrounding snow-capped mountain tops. We went to bed that night hoping it would stay dry into the next day.
Nikki Aldridge More Photos………. Audio Report……..