Mother Goose Leg 2, Day 6 - Walker Cove to Punchbowl Lagoon

Before leaving Walker Cove, we checked our crab pots and were pleased to see that this too was an excellent spot for crabbing. Between all of the pots we caught 17 crab. These, like those we had caught over the previous days were promptly cleaned and cooked to be ready for the fleet’s consumption. This trip had made us experts in crab cuisine. We ate cracked crab, crab dips, crab salad, crab louie, crab omelets. The list goes on and on. So, with our newest supply of crab taken care of, we hauled anchor and continued our journey, this time with Miss Claire in tow behind Deception.
Punchbowl Lagoon is only a short cruise down Behm Canal from Walker Cove. It is actually a small offshoot of the much larger Rudyerd Bay, which extends much farther back into the mountainous mainland. We turned into Rudyerd Bay and then into Punchbowl Lagoon where we were blown away by the incredible scenery. Here, the huge rocky mountains were scooped out in a large glacial cirque, creating the bowl-like landscape which gives the area its name. Sheer cliffs rose up all around our anchorage, dwarfing our boats with their towering heights. All around, thin streams of water leapt from edges of the mountains, free-falling for thousands of feet and splashing down into the bay. We decided that this anchorage would be suitable for our purposes, and dropped anchor.

After a short break for lunch, we hopped into our dinghies and embarked upon another dinghy exploration. This time, we left Punchbowl Lagoon and headed inland, up toward the head of Rudyerd Bay. It was a long trip, so we opened up the throttle and sped up the length of the bay. All around us, the scenery continued to amaze with its beauty. Here and there, wide grassy expanses spread out along the shoreline. We watched intently for bears, but did not see any on this trip. When we had thoroughly explored the bay, we turned around and headed back to the boats. Shortly after our arrival, Inside Passage again spotted a bear on the beach. This time it was a large black bear, which lumbered down the beach for a few minutes before disappearing in the forest.

As this was our last night at sea, we rafted Mystic Eagle and Deception together and held our traditional last supper and talent show. The food was incredible and as usual there was far too much for us to possibly finish. The main course was all we could eat of freshly caught Dungeness crab. After dinner, we began the talent show. We were a talented group, and the submissions had us laughing, tearing up, and grateful for the wonderful experiences we had been able to enjoy over the past week. When the talent show wound up, we said our goodnights and returned to our boats to get some much needed rest.