Scenic Chatham Strait



Chatham Strait



Chatham Strait





Waterfall at Baranof



Left Petersburg on July 9^th at 13:00, motored north from Wrangell Narrows and turned west on Frederick Sound.  We found this immense body of water to be calm and flat with vistas as far as the eye could see.  After traveling 70 miles on Frederick Sound, we arrived at Herring Bay on the southeast end of Admiralty Island at 20:30 (8:30pm).  As previously noted, the vast distances are impressive.  We continued south on Frederick Sound the next day, rounding Admiralty Island into beautiful Chatham Strait revealing a backdrop of jagged peaks and snow fields.  We headed north on Chatham Strait for another three hours and stopped at the community of Baranof in Warm Springs Bay on Baranof Island.  The village consists of a few homes/cabins overlooking the bay with a rushing waterfall near the guest dock.  Natural hotsprings are located above the falls and are accessible by a boardwalk through the alpine forest.  Soaking tubs near the docks receive water from the hotsprings but didn't look as inviting to us as the natural springs.  The natural hotsprings offer two pools set among the rocks overlooking a swift moving river - definitely a true forest setting.  We continued our walk along the boardwalk to Baranof Lake, a lovely spot reminiscent of the Wallowa’s in northeastern Oregon.  We left Baranof at 17:00 and continued north on Chatham Strait briefly encountering a Grey Whale; arrived at 9pm in Hanus Bay for anchorage in Pt. Moses Cove, bringing us closer to Sitka, our final northern destination and turn-around point.



Hotsprings Overlooking River



Boardwalk to Hotsprings & Lake