the Discovery Islands
the Inside Passage
Thurston Bay Marine Park, Sonora Island
Thursday, August 04, 2011TheCambrians
With another beautiful day in store, we upped anchor early this morning and made our way through Upper and Lower Rapids, down Okisollo Channel, into Discovery Passage, up Nodales Channel and to Thurston Marine Park on Sonora Island with Salubrious following behind. We dropped our anchors in Handfield Bay, a quiet spot just north of the major passes, and were welcomed by a lovely pastoral view with gently rolling hills reminiscent of our time in New Zealand – the main reason I like it here so much.
The marine park is undeveloped except for an overgrown trail linking thebay with Anchorage Lagoon at the south end of Thurston Bay. After lunch, the four of us went to shore to find the trail. It took some doing, be we finally located it and were greeted by a two or three week old pile of scat. We later learned that a grizzly bear had been spotted in the area recently, Sonora being the only one of the islands known to have grizzlies, proving the point that ignorance is bliss. But again, it wasn't fresh and there's safety in numbers. After all, I don't have to out run the bear, just every one else. And, believe it or not, I don't fancy my chances in a race against David, so I appreciated the extra numbers and improved odds.
A fifteen minute walk through the forest and we were on the other side tramping through the muddy shoreline of the lagoon at low tide where we enjoyed an idyllic view and combed the rocky beach before walking back to the other side and returning to our boats. It had a been a long day and we still have a few more miles to travel in the morning,so David and I had an early night.
We'll be saying good-bye to Bill and Sylvia in the morning who are staying an extra day or two but should see them in Shoal Bay either Saturday or Sunday as they make their way to the Broughtons. It's been a lot of fun buddy-boating with them and a great distraction, so we'll miss them but I'm sure our paths will cross again before the end of the season… it's a small world on the water, after all.
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