Magnificent Hallo Bay

Thursday, 19 August: Part III

If you were hoping to see photos of bears in this blog entry, I am afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you. You see, there were no bears this afternoon — at least not in our immediate vicinity. But I hope the scenery will make up for it.

Shortly after 2:00p, we were once again in the Shelikof Strait, this time motoring to Hallo Bay.

Left: Hallo Bay is marked with a red star.
Right: Google map showing our anchorage at Hallo Bay.

We leave Kukak Bay behind for …

… magnificent Hallo Bay.

The Shelikof was once again a bit choppy, but not bad really. We didn’t have far to go anyway … just enough time to enjoy wraps for lunch; review our photos and videos; enjoy a wildlife sighting en route; and perhaps take a short nap.

Crossing the Shelikof, the Single Star rocks Mui to sleep.

it’s Not easy photographing harbor seals on their rocky haulout when the
boat is bobbing ... but i manage.

As you can see from the map above, Hallo Bay is quite wide and open to the elements. So, it was no surprise that the silt-laden water at our anchorage was rather choppy; or that our ride to shore was “bouncy!” Sitting on the bow of the skiff, with my back to the water, I was hit by the brunt of the waves; but the rest of the gang didn’t fare much better. At least I wasn’t getting a facefull of water as the skiff pitched across the bay! Our wetgear and waders, however, held up under the onslaught of water and we were still dry and warm when we arrived at our landing spot.

Welcome to Hallo Bay!

Detail from the mudflats we cross to reach the beach.

I have to say that of all of our landing sites, this was the one that took my breath away. In one direction, blue-green waters came ashore in wavelets. In another direction, glacier-covered mountains provided a spectacular backdrop to the brown-sand beach. In yet another direction, sun-bleached driftwood littered the beach and grass fields as far as the eye could see. Set against blue skies and green grasses starting to turn yellow, the scenery was to-die-for beautiful.

You want driftwood? You got driftwood!

Left: Hey Mui, check out that plastic float.
Right: swirls and gnarls.

Eberhard led us across grass fields, fording streams and un-sticking wader shoes along the way, to a rise on the far side of our landing spot. Here we sat for the next two hours, waiting for the bears, and maybe a wolf or two, to show up. We were out of luck. The bears stayed on the far, far, far side; as did a couple of eagles that were mere dots in the trees on the far, far, far side. There was no wildlife anywhere near us. Except, that is, for gnat-like flies that swirled about us. (This was the only time during our trip that we had to resort to the bug dope we’d brought with us.)

“Two to Travel” has to have a Hallo Bay photo op.
(photo courtesy of Lindsay)

We could have moved around and looked for bears elsewhere, I suppose. But we were quite content where we were, just enjoying the scenery and the warm afternoon ashore. Around 7:00p, we called it a day and radioed Lee to pick us up.

At high tide there’s but a narrow strip of beach here.

We have to wade through this water to get back to the skiff.

So, today wasn’t a great “bear” day. What can I say. Wildlife is just that — wild; they don’t show up on cue. We knew there was a chance there would be days like this one. That’s one of the reasons why we booked a 7-day trip versus the more common 5-day trip. I’m just glad that our first few days were filled with bears. Now, we don’t have to worry about whether we’re going to see any bears. We can enjoy a day like this for what it is — an opportunity to relax and enjoy ourselves in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.