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DESTINATION: Santa Ana Bay with a stop at Anan Bear Park
It's cloudy but no rain yet, just sprinkles. I made corned beef hash with left over corned beef, onion, potato, green pepper and English Muffin Bread. I’ve decide to plop the bread in the freezer. Better than letting it get stale on the counter. WEIRD BUBBLING WATER Larry takes Zig out. I can see bubbling in the shore water. I get the kayak out to see if it’s a hot spring. Larry said it was carbonated gas or air. It was just bubbling up everywhere. Amazing! No smell though. I guess that’s what was peeking Zig's interest yesterday. NEARBY FISHERY A MYSTERY TO ME I took the dinghy over to see the nearby fishery but there was absolutely no activity there. I didn’t get too close because I didn’t know what might be below to get caught in the dinghy prop but I’d sure like to know how the fishery works. It looks like big swimming pools floating in the sea water surrounded by a bunch of walking ramps with hand rails.
BERNSTEIN PUTS THE PEDDLE TO THE METAL We start to pull up anchor and notice Bernstein is too. We get ours up first but he all of a sudden puts the peddle to the metal and it’s like a race (except we’re not racing ) and he again races out of the anchorage as fast as his boat will go and again leaving those terrible wakes. We were underway by then and were able to direct ourselves into them with our stabilizers on but those poor people behind us. It's pretty funny in a way because I just don't think he realizes. He then called us on the radio to let us know in case we didn’t that we couldn’t bring Ziggy ashore at the Anan Bear Forest Station. Larry said we knew but thanked him and then asked him if he was related to Leonard Bernstein as we began to wonder. He said “No” but he had to get a t-shirt made up for rehearsals that said “No, I’m not related” because so many people ask him. HE KNOWS THE SWEET SPOT He led the way through Zamorvia Channel and we followed. Again, the Channel was not as intimidating as the first time we came through. We followed him to Anan Bear Forest Service. He just drives right in and anchors that boat in about 55 feet as easy as could be. We slowly come in and search around and can only find about 16 feet. He obviously knew exactly where the right spot was. There is no protection in this anchorage and we are apprehensive because the Douglas Book says you need to leave someone on the boat because the anchorage is not good. Bernstein has come here several times before and always anchors and he even stays the night! ANXIOUS ABOUT THE ANCHORAGE Larry wanted to stay with the boat but I said I wouldn’t go if he wasn't coming. So he said we should be OK but was worry as the tide was going down. We got to shore with the dinghy and the Bernstein's were having trouble getting off their dinghy onto the rocky landing area. The wife had what I call those crunchy granola sandals on and stepped right in the water up to her knees in the bare feet! You’d think they’d have some rubber boots to come up here. I’m still amazed when I think about it because the water was icy. I made a comment about it when they got ashore and they said she has her dry shoes in a bag. Brrrrh! There is nothing easy about coming to see this place on your own boat. They have removed the mooring buoy and it’s not safe to leave the boat there and then there is no place easy to get the dinghy in and nothing to tie the dinghy to except around some boulders and them the tide goes in and out rapidly. I mentioned to Bernstein that we were nervous about leaving the boat because we aren’t in very deep water. He seemed concerned too. I said we were planning to see the bears quick and be back before the tide went out. NO RUSHING THIS RANGER We started to hurry up the hill and the forest ranger stopped us. She was a sweet but kind of a goofy young girl in her ranger outfit and a rifle hanging from her shoulder. She said she had to get our names etc. before we could go up. We explained that we were anxious because of our boat and wanted to get going but nothing hurried this girl. I thought she’d never let us up the trail. Gave us a few precautions about what to do if we see a bear. She said there should be no problems and I'm thinking that’s fine for her with that big rifle hanging from her shoulder. Finally she let us and the Bernstein's go. "HELLO BEAR!"
We came to a stream that emptied into the lagoon and I noticed a bunch of fish. I climbed down to get a better look and it was salmon, loads of them! It was amazing. We climbed up farther up the path and could hear the water falls in the distance. The path turned into stairs leading finally to the ranger's viewing deck. The forest service has built this area for people to watch the bears coming to feed on the returning salmon. There were quite a few people there. Most were young kids in their late teens or early 20’s with back packs and notebooks. They were part of a nature class. It must be a school outing. Now I’m thinking that all the kayaks we saw on the lawn of the forest service cabin must belong to this group of kids. What a fun trip for them I thought. WHAT A JOURNEY THESE SALMON TAKE ON We perched ourselves from the deck and could clearly see the river or stream now. There were millions and millions of salmon filling the stream, waiting for their chance to fight their way on their long journey up the stream further. It was one big bottleneck here at the falls. Some were trying to jump straight up the falls and others were jumping up little jumps to the next boulder and so on. It was a mass of fish covering the sandy bottom. The stream was black with the mass as they were so crowded.
We saw a black bear come out from the boulders and give his best couple attempts to catch a salmon. It looked like it would be so easy. He missed both times and almost out of embarrassment went back into his cave and then climbed up the hill out of sight. People said they saw a couple mothers with their babies but we didn't see them yet. WORRYING OVER THE BOAT.... Larry was still concerned and said he was going back to the boat because the tide was going out. He wanted me to stay and come back to the boat later. He said he’d come and pick me up with the dinghy but I said no I’d go with him. I really saw a lot already and although it would have amazing to be able to stay all day I didn't want Larry to have to sit waiting for me.
....AND RIGHTFULLY SO! When we got to the shore there was no forest service girl. We left in a hurry. The weather had turned surprisingly and the sea was getting rough. The seas suddenly had built to 3 foot waves and they were splashing on the boulders where we tied the dinghy. The winds were picking up too and the sky looked ominous. I was glad now that I decided to come back with Larry. All I wanted to do was get to our boat and get the heck out of there. We slapped the waves in the dinghy getting back and now it was pouring rain. We got to the swim deck and it was very rough trying to get back on the boat. I was worried about Larry trying to get the dinghy up on the davit. I went inside and let Zig out of the cage and rushed back to help Larry. He finally managed to get the dinghy up though the boat was rocking badly. We both felt a bit of a panic.
TIDE WAS RACING WITH US The depth below us was not at 11 feet now and you could see the depth finder literally going down as you watched it. Larry didn’t even flake the anchor in he just pulled it right up. His shoes were all muddy and he was tracking mud all over the place and he was sopping wet and I was too but yet we were sweating from the race back on the trail and this nerve wracking situation. We got the anchor up and soon were out of there and the depth at my last glance was 9 feet. In a matter of a couple minutes it went from 11 plus to 9.5. You may not think that so shallow but up here in these waters that IS SHALLOW! THAT OLE BERNSTEIN, HOOKED LIKE A ROCK That is a dangerous place and the nearby large channels converge right here and the winds funnel from all directions making for some chaotic conditions under the wrong conditions and today was one of them. Bernstein's boat was still there and hooked but flopping back and forth. I wondered if the weather would calm down for them so they could get back to their boat safely. Then just as suddenly this thick eerie fog rolled in and we rolled out as quickly as possible. We felt much more in control in our boat on the water moving. We practically stripped to get cooled down so we wouldn’t fog the windows up as we were hot and sweaty though it was cold outside. We hung our wet things down in the engine room to dry them out and headed to Santa Ana Anchorage. As things calmed down and we were on our way again, we suddenly were starving. I made us a nice salad, a treat up here, with some fresh things I got in Petersburg. What a treat to have fresh avocado, mango, jarred mandarin oranges, onion, celery and cranberries on the lettuce. I put some honey on the salad and our regular dressing. It was good and we were hungry after that ordeal.
We saw a huge beautiful sail boat go by with a beautiful white wolf like dog on the bow. It looked like a strange ghost. Larry slowed down so as not to create a wake and this strange ghostlike captain threw us a kiss. SO GLAD TO BE IN OUR SAFE LITTLE ANCHORAGE AGAIN We saw a couple seiners with their nets out working them and a crab boat come out of our intended anchorage. We were glad to get settled into our anchorage and also glad it was a place we had been before so we knew it. I quickly got the kayak out even though it was a downpour to take Zig to shore. He went immediately by the ruins and ran to come back to get on the kayak. I paddled around a little and then came back to the boat. I wanted to give Larry a break from having to take Zig ashore in the rain all the time. It’s such a hassle to get the dinghy down too and after what he went through today he needed a break. STILL LEARNING When we got back Larry said it was his fault he should have anchored in deeper water but we just couldn't find the sweet spot. It wasn't his fault as it was a decision made together. We learned from that. I still I can’t imagine leaving my boat there unattended and then to spend the evening at that anchorage? No way, at least not that day. OLD BOAT We had Rueben Sandwiches and Bean with bacon soup that night. Tasted great. I took Zig out one more time. We paddled by an old boat that came in to the anchorage. The hailing port was Myers Chuck. Neat looking old boat, green hull with red trim. I asked them how old it was and the captain said it was 70 years old. He said it used to take the mining engineers around in the old days. Didn’t see any bears, whales, river otters, or deer this time but that’s ok. I have my memories from last visit.
DATE: July 22, 2002 DESTINATION: Myers Chuck
CLUMSY EAGLE Woke up to peace and quiet. Thought I heard a splash so got up. The people on the old miner's boat were sitting out on their back deck. I got up hoping I might see a bear or something on shore. There was nothing on shore but one eagle perched on a tree at the end of the inlet looking like he was waiting for something. He seems to be all by himself here. Doesn’t he know the salmon are running just a few miles from here and it would be easy pickings for him? But, no, we watch him through out the morning as he clumsily tries over and over to catch something with nothing but one failure after another. I feel sorry for him. I get the kayak and take Ziggy out again. His regular place is over by the mining ruins. He does a pretty quick job there. I think he is a little afraid of the surroundings. Maybe he smells bear. He is definitely not interested in any monkey business. We get back and make wheat germ pancakes. They are delicious. RHYTHMS OF NATURE UP HERE We don’t plan to leave until about 10:30 after the tide has come in and is just getting ready to go out again. There is so much up here that works around schedules and changes of nature here; the tide that comes in and goes out, the salmon and their life cycle, the schedule of the seasons and the effects and changes when the barometer as it goes up and down. I never was to in tuned with what nature does and how there is this moving schedule a kind of repetition, a swelling and sighing. You don't feel nor understand this at home. But it is so important up here. RIDE WITH THE TIDE We notice our cove mates start their engine just as were thinking of going too. We start ours. They are in tuned to the tide coming and going also. With their old boat it is more important to go with the tide. To time it right. We could go out against the tide and use more fuel and fight nature but it is so much easier to go with the flow. We lift the anchor with no problem and I guide the boat out carefully between the crab pots. CRAB FISHERMEN, PICK AND CHOOSE
STRANGE BOND WITH STRANGERS As we leave, the people on the Myers Chuck boat all wave to us. They and we have been so shy all last afternoon, evening and morning, though we slept and ate feet from each other. Now though we wave goodbye as we have that bond. We leave this place with so many fond memories from out last trip, having seen a grizzly, a mother bear and her cub, whales, river otter, deer, seals, a flying squirrel. This time strangely nothing except the pitiful lone eagle. I hope he finds something to eat. We have a pretty uneventful trip down the island to Myers Chuck. I spend most of my time typing in my journal about the last two days. I wonder where the Bernstein's are now. Larry said he mentioned coming to Santa Ana Cove today and then making it to Ketchikan the following day. That’s an awful long trip. Wonder if we will ever meet up with them again. NO STOMACH FOR FISHING We come around the point to Myers Chuck and we see many fish here and there jumping out of the water. It must be a fisherman’s paradise. Guess we’ll never know because neither Larry nor I have the stomach to kill a fish. As silly as it sounds we’ve pretty much come to that conclusion. I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with flash frozen and if it comes from Petersburg that’s OK with me. MYERS CHUCK Larry tells me to "tie everything for a starboard tie up and we’ll see what we get into this time". We negotiate the 30 yard wide entry that can be pretty well hidden from the main channel if you’re not watching closely. We have a long empty dock to tie up to. The cove is very quaint with a few cottages scattered about. We carefully come into the harbor and turn to do a starboard tie. OLD CODGER BOSSING EVERYONE AT THE DOCK There is an old codger on the dock and offers to help. I say I can handle it but he gives me a funny look so I hand him the bow tie and tell him it’s the bow tie. He makes a wise crack that he knows it’s a bow tie. He tells us that we should pull the boat up close to his so other people will have some room. Larry says OK and the codger and I start to pull the boat and I notice the dock is bent at that point. I try to tell Larry and the codger keeps saying there’s enough room behind the other boat. He wants us to tie the boat over this big indention. I finally yell at him that there is not enough room and we’re on this bend and Larry finally see’s my point. Then the codger wants us to move all the way down to the other end of the dock to again "give room". What makes this guy think he's in charge I think? But Larry is trying to be nice, so we pull the boat all the way down. It was ridiculous! I discussed it later with Larry and said we have to get our act together with these people on the docks that act like they are the harbor master and get us doing things that we shouldn’t do. Anyway, we got settled and tied everything up. WATCH THAT CREOSOTE ON THE DOCK Larry wanted to take a walk on shore and see the place and give Zig a chance to run around. We notice there creosote on the dock so now we have to change shoes and put on something to walk on the dock but not on boat. I don’t want to get my regular tennis shoes wrecked so I change to my topsiders. We now notice that we must have left our plastic matt in Petersburg that has come in handy throughout our travels for getting the grit and stones off our shoes. We pull out the other mat that has been under our blue plastic bins. It’s more like a Berber material. Guess we’ll have to buy another plastic mat in Ketchikan if we can find one. EXPLORING ON THEIR WALKING PATHS We walk up the metal grid ramp that seems pretty substantial for such a rustic place. They even have a helicopter pad here. Their little rustic note board at the top of the ramp has a few post ups. Mainly the notes to tell you not to leave trash, etc. There is a handmade wood sign that says “Welcome to Myers Chuck” and an arrow pointing to “Gallery”. We head up the path to the gallery. What a neat little path. The weather has gotten warmer and actually is very humid. The path is cool and damp and feels so good on our hot bodies. The plants are beautiful like a tropical garden. "MARINE SERVICE SHOP, & GROCERIES" We come to a fork in the path and one sign points to the "Gallery Pathway" and the other to "Hallway" which leads to all the little cottages on the south part of the harbor. We take the gallery path but find the "gallery" closed and so we turned to come back to the ramp to see the other part of the village. We walked back around a little inlet in the harbor and passed an interesting but falling apart shack that had a sign out front that says Marine Service. There is run down junk everywhere and the shack is completely falling apart and rotting. On the other side of the "building" is the door which is barely hanging to the door frame and is rather askew with signs also saying groceries, drinks, etc., are for sale.
On the other side of the "marine service grocery store" are a couple houses, one with so much junk out front you just can’t believe it. We continue on down the path that is almost over grown with berry bushes, looked like raspberries and blueberries. I steal a blueberry and eat it. It's delicious! We come to the "lodge" which has signs "closed" signs posted everywhere. One would be enough I would think. We head on up the path until we reach a sharp turn that has another hand made sign directing you to the right. Larry misses it and walks right up to someone’s private house and through their great little multiple raised bed vegetable gardens. I call him back and point to the sign. NO POST OFFICE AT HIGH TIDE We continue on and reach a couple more houses that face the back cove. We finally have to stop because of the water. Because it's high tide, the water covers the path which leads to the building that is the post office. It is on a little islet in the harbor along with a couple other cottages. Guess you can only get to the post office at low tide. It didn’t look like it was open often anyway. We turn back and this time I try a red raspberry. It's a bit sour but good. We pass by the vegetable garden again and it looks like they have quite a crop. Wonder why then if this garden is so bountiful that you can’t get any really fresh vegetables around up here? This person seems to have a green thumb. Oh yes, the rain and no sun, I forgot. Well I don’t know what this person’s secret is but they are sure doing something right. We come back to the boat and I take out on the kayak and paddle around the harbor. In the mean time, two boats come in to the harbor and anchor and another boat comes in to the dock. The captain of the new boat at the dock said he followed the other boats all the way from Ketchikan and wondered why they anchored instead of coming to the dock. We wondered if there was something they knew that we didn't about docking here as there was plenty of room. Made me curious too. We never did find out. I think we did OK on the dock except for the creosote. BUSH PILOTS A sea plane came in and picked up some people. Forgot to mention that while we were at Santa Ana Cove, a plane showed up coming over the back side of the cove and flew straight out the cove into the main channel. It was flying very low and it was very foggy. I just can’t believe these bush pilots. We think he must have been coming from “Yes Bay” in Behm Canal. There is a low area between the two coves and they’re about 5 miles apart. Also, yesterday as we were leaving Anan Bear farm a plane flew by very low to the water in the heavy fog. They follow the water path like a trail. Just can’t believe these guys. I must have been tired as I took a nap and Larry had to wake me about 5:30 to put the dinner on. Don’t know why I was so tired. Felt like I was drugged. Maybe it was the raspberry. Just kidding. We had sauerkraut, roasted pork with a little brown sugar, left over brown rice with mushrooms that I heated in the skillet and a can of pears. Tasted great. MANAGING THE HIGH TIDE WITH PULLEYS
A lady came down on the docks to tell us that the gallery would be open for a half an hour. So we decided to go up and take a look. She said everything was handmade by the people in Myers Chuck. They had some interesting wooden bowls made by a lady who also spends time in Ojai, California near where we live. She said a lot of people go warmer places in the winter. The bowls were very expensive and some of the baskets were nice and made out of local cedar. She also makes hats for the Indians for their dances. I bought two of their local cookbooks. One for me and one for my friend Bev who likes to cook. She thanked us very much. LOCAL LIFESTYLE From this lady we learned the full time population in Myers chuck is about 8 people and jumps to 25-30 during the summer. Their groceries are ordered by telephone and are delivered once a week by seaplane along with the mail. You can drop mail off on Mondays, it goes out on Wednesdays and any mail coming in, comes in Wednesday too. They have a microwave tower for their phone and a satellite for internet which she says also works sometimes through their phone but is slow. All the houses have generators so in the evening you can hear them all purring as I paddled around the cove. There are no roads here only walking paths. They get their water from a nearby lake and if they choose to bathe they do so by using sun shower bags hooked over their bathtubs. Guess that isn’t often because I haven't seen much sun since we've been up here. QUIET PURR OF THE GENERATORS Zig and I paddled around that evening and listen and actually enjoyed the purring of the generators. Almost all the cottages had people in them. I guess I thought they would be occasional cottages but they seem to be very full and using them. Two of the houses across the channel from the dock are especially nice. One has a nice stone foot path to his house from the water and lots of stone planter with flowers. His house is built on some boulders standing on poles. He has custom sized shingle siding about 2' by 1,’ rough and not straight, same on the roof. Very nice. He has put in lots of windows and built a nice deck with railing and a trailing plants growing on it. Most houses have coat pegs on the outside by front door filled with different colored rain coats and boots. Flowers abound everywhere in all kinds of unlikely places and containers. It is a charming place but not for everybody.
DEAD SILENT AFTER DARK, AND IT'S DARK There are three eagles that seem to make this place home and are usually flying around the harbor making their unique noises that dominate any sounds other than the splashing of flopping fish in the harbor. This place is full of life though as the sun goes down it gets quiet and there's only the murmur of one last generator but it too stops and the place is dead quiet and no electricity is seen anywhere.
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DATE:
July 21, 2002
It
was a beautiful walk but we had to hurry because Larry was a wreck
worrying about the boat. It’s about a ½ mile walk and the trail is
extremely well maintained with wooden walkways and foot brides over the
streams. The path leads you around a large swampy lagoon and across a
couple small streams. You could see an obvious nearby path that the bears
took. They just mashed down plants as they went and left big foot prints
in the mud. We hiked quite awhile and every once in awhile yelled out
“hello bear” just to let them know we were coming. 
STREAMS
WERE BLACK, JUST FULL OF SALMON
EMBARRASSED
BEAR
We
hurried back down the trail and as we went by the lower rapids were
several eagles perched on rocks in the stream catching salmon. Sadly we
didn’t have time to watch. I thought to myself that I’d like to come back
some day and find that sweet spot to anchor that Bernstein knows about.
GHOST
SHIP
We
had watched earlier as crab fishermen came in this morning to check their
traps. They went from one to another, checking and measuring and throwing
back in the cove about 4 to 1 that didn’t meet size or gender
requirements. We waved a "hello" to them and they wave back. All these
strangers on this trip that we have passed and wave to never knowing who
they are, not knowing where they go and knowing if you will ever see them
again. Even though we all have this bond of waving to each other. Maybe
it’s the fact that we have all shared this wilderness together and it’s a
bond.
STOLE
A BLUEBERRY
I
took Zig for another kayak ride after dinner. I watched as the people on
the Myers Chuck boat at our last anchorage had come into the harbor this
afternoon while I was sleeping. They tied up to an old floating dock,
took their skiff into shore and went into one of the cottages. He has a
gizmo hooked up like a pulley for the skiff. Once ashore, he tied the
skiff to the pulley and pulled it back out to the deeper water. This
keeps the skiff from landing high and dry when the tide goes out. They
built a campfire on shore and spent the afternoon sitting around the
campfire talking and burning things. The guy who lived across the bay did
the same thing. 
THE
GALLERY OPEN IN HALF HOUR
