Pack Creek is located about 23 nautical miles into Seymour
Canal. The draw is brown bears. The U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Department
of Fish and Game jointly manage the site and limit visitors to 24 per day. I
had applied for permits back in February since they quickly sell out, and
tomorrow is our day to visit. Today we’ll run up to Pack Creek and anchor out
so we’re ready to visit when they open at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.
The trip up to Pack Creek was easy, except for the dozens of
humpback whales that were seemingly trying to block our path. I’d never seen as
high a concentration of humpbacks as I did at the south end of Seymour Canal.
In several instances I glanced out the window to see a humpback surfacing
within 50 feet of the boat. One even breached directly ahead, perhaps 500 feet
in front of us. I wish I’d had my camera ready…
 |
| Trying to impede our progress! |
Anchoring at Pack Creek is a deep-water affair. I was fairly
close to shore, still in 100 feet of water. Thankfully the bottom is sticky mud
with excellent holding. With 275 feet of chain out the anchor set quickly and
firmly.
In the evening a couple of young brown bears meandered down
the beach digging for clams. We watched from the dinghy, then the boat.
Hopefully this means we’ll see lots of bears tomorrow.
52.37 nm today
1384.2 nm total
No comments :
Post a Comment