After a day on the water it was time to take a hike. The only trail on the map of the island was to a lake and that looked like as good a destination as any. The first half of the hike followed the rocky beach before we headed inland and upwards.
Then we headed up to the lake through a bit more devils club, but mostly a shaded out understory.
Before long the lake showed itself through the trees.
Its was just us and the birds to enjoy the quiet waves. We headed back mid-day. The only sign of life was the occasional barge passing by in the strait on the hike back.
We enjoyed some time in the sun and meandered back to the cabin, and before we knew it the day was pretty much over. Luckily the deer didn’t sample the rhubarb and we had plenty for a crisp!
Another day dawned and with a favorable forecast we decided to make a run out to the ocean. The whales were still out and about foraging the strait.
On the way out we made a stop to an interesting community, Elfin Cove. The entire town is pretty much on boardwalks and stilts, in a little protected cove just off Cross Sound. It was still early in the season so things weren’t fully up and running but I was surprised to find a post office, school, museum, bar, cafe, store, and several options for lodging. It is probably a hopping spot when the salmon are in.
From Elfin Cove we headed to Deer Harbor to see if by chance we could troll up a Salmon. No luck there, although we did hook a few rock fish. It was pretty rough with waves coming from different directions so no pictures from out there. After a while we headed inland. We did manage a halibut later that night, the only one of the trip (that was landed), and we were able to enjoy it as a very tasty dinner on our last night.
Just like that we were down to one day left of exploration in Alaska.
