Mother Goose Leg 2, Day 5 - Fitzgibbon Cove to Walker Cove

Any trace of the wind that had blown the day before had disappeared when we hauled anchor and left Fitzgibbon Cove. Our day’s run was not a long one. We again turned left into Behm Canal and continued onwards, keeping Revillagigedo Island to our right and the mainland to our left as we had been doing throughout our expedition. The scenery continued to impress us, with rocky crags towering thousands of feet above us and the seabed more than 1800 feet below us. We passed the mouth of the Chickamin River, which flows down a broad, densely forested valley before emptying into Behm Canal. The silt from the river gave the water an incredible blue-green hue. It was not long before we passed Hut Point and turned into the mouth of Walker Cove.

If everything we had seen before was beautiful, Walker Cove was nothing short of gorgeous. It is difficult to put into words the grandeur of this setting. Mountains higher than any we had yet seen soared up from the water’s edge at vertical or near-vertical angles. Hanging lakes high up on the mountainsides fed raging waterfalls which cascaded and tumbled nearly a mile down exposed rock before plunging into the sea. The area’s glacial history was readily observed here, with a multitude hanging valleys and glacial cirques all around us. The sheer rock walls on the either side of the cove were marked with long horizontal grooves, remnants of deep gouges dug thousands of years ago by large boulders frozen into the glaciers and dragged for many miles against the underlying bedrock. Despite the inhospitable conditions, life thrived here. Trees and shrubs clung to the impossibly steep slopes. Seabirds and seals swam in the deep water of the cove.

We anchored up near the mouth of a stream, next to a long, low grassy shoreline which looked like perfect bear spotting territory. After everyone was all settled in, everyone climbed into their dinghies and Casey led a tour up to the head of Walker Cove. The bears did not put in an appearance, but judging by the scenery they couldn’t have been too far away. At one shallow beach we landed the dinghies and got out to look around. A stream flowed onto the beach from back in the forest and tall sedge grass grew all over the top of the beach. Huge rocky peaks sat on either side of the beach, dwarfing the meadow, the forest, and us with their gargantuan slopes. We poked around the beach for a while longer, then climbed aboard the dinghies and returned to where the fleet was anchored.

Anchored next to us was a small aluminum boat called Miss Claire. When we returned, her crew came over to Deception in their dinghy and told us that they were having engine trouble and asked if we would be willing to tow them back to Ketchikan. We were more than happy to oblige, and so our fleet gained another boat for the next two days. Miss Claire’s crew consisted of Stan, Cheryl, and their dog Oly. They were very friendly people and they made a good short-term addition to our crew.

Shortly after dinner, an excited Morgan of Inside Passage got on the radio to tell us that she had spotted a bear. Sure enough, over on the beach right by where our boats were anchored, a large brown bear was lounging in the sedge grass. The bear did not seem at all bothered by our presence and he remained on the beach a while longer before ambling up into the forest. It certainly was a good way to end a fantastic day.