Basket Bay & Pavlov Harbor
The geology of Southeast Alaska is a crazy patchwork quilt, where pieces of the earth’s crust transported over millions of years by moving tectonic plates have been smeared and stuck along the coast of North America. Sometimes, that geology provides a part of the show. Such was the case this morning, as we boarded zodiacs and kayaks to explore Basket Bay.
Some of the bedrock in this area is limestone, and in the temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska, where plant tannins and abundant rain provide the perfect conditions for sculpting this rock, limestone can create some remarkable features. Our water explorations took us in small groups into a grotto, a high-ceilinged cave with one end open to the sea and the other being carved out as we watched (OK, slowly) by a fast-flowing stream. The echoing stillness of the grotto and the layered smooth curves and angles of the water-carved rock were captivating. Kayakers and zodiac cruisers alike delighted in the feel of the stream’s current gently taking our boat as light and shadow played over the faces around us.
There was time for lunch and a talk about bears and perhaps even a nap as we made our way up the coast of Chichagof Island and cruised into Freshwater Bay. The name of this long inlet comes from early explorers and fur traders, and true to its name, streams and rivers are abundant.
At Pavlov Harbor, the site off our afternoon explorations, there is a beautiful stream where salmon spawn. Once again, tides and weather cooperated beautifully, and kayakers, zodiac riders, and hikers all got a view of the waterfall that graces this stream with its multistranded cascades. In the bay, fish were jumping, feeling perhaps that primal urge that soon will impel them to leap the cascades, spawn, and die. Along the stream, spruce and hemlock towered, beneficiaries too of the salmon that bring the nutrients of the ocean back to the land, feeding nearly every living thing. As if for our visit, the intertidal zone was exposed, the beach meadows blooming, and the forest standing still and intricate with mossy leafy detail.
The hikers made it to the shore of a quiet lake ringed with tall grasses, stopping to look at plants and animal sign along the way, and, perhaps, shuddering with a little thrill of fear to see the size of fresh brown bear tracks in the mud. Kayakers had another smooth paddle, and zodiac cruisers ranged a bit farther down the coast, discovering harbor seals, an eagle nest, and a bald eagle catching fish.
The mood of the afternoon was peaceful, and for some, a highlight was turning off the engine of the zodiac to drift for a time in a place where the silence and sounds are exactly as they have been for thousands of years – a distant bird call, the splash of a fish jumping, the harbor seal’s breath as he exhales before diving, and nothing more. In such sounds and silence we too can find our place, listening to the world as our ancestors did, in peace.
