There are so many things we love about cruising in the Pacific Northwest – glaciers, fjords and
white sand beaches to name a few. But one thing that tops both of our lists is
natural hot
springs
We’ll
go out of our way to visit a hot spring, which is the main reason we
considered sailing down the west coast of Chichagof and Baranof Islands Chatham Strait
But, once again, I’m getting a
little ahead of myself.
Honestly,
I felt a little sad about leaving Ell Cove. It’s a beautiful, well-protected
anchorage with plenty of interesting places nearby to explore by kayak. But
then again, maybe it was the forecast that had me down: Rain. Rain. And a
chance of . . . (wait for it) rain! It’s one of the last things you want to
hear on the first sunny day you’ve seen in over a week. But it is what it is,
and we are where we’re going . . . which wasn’t very far.
One
of the best things about this section of the coast is the distance between
anchorages – they’re short. With only 10 miles to travel, we’d no sooner got
back out into Chatham Strait
The community of Baranof.
Like
so many of the small communities that were formed along the coast of Southeast Alaska hot springs
There
are a couple of options in Baranof: two natural hot spring pools on the hill up
from the dock and a bathhouse which sits at the top of the gangway. Normally,
the former would be my preference and David’s would be the latter, but this
time we both agreed – the bathhouse!
The natural hot springs.
The
springs are located about a half mile from the dock along a short trail that
splits off from the boardwalk and leads uphill to the river. Fed by a series of
hot springs upstream, the two pools sit adjacent to the outflow of the Baranof
River, one of the best backdrops to a natural hot spring we’ve yet to encounter
(I’d say Eucott Bay comes in a close second). But at around 125°F, I found the
water to be a little too hot to enjoy.
The bathhouse.
The
water temperature in the bathhouse, on the other hand, is just right. But if
it’s still too warm, cold water fed from a stream can be turned on and added to
the mix. There are three private rooms, each with a tub large enough for two and
a beautiful view of the bay. And unlike at the natural pools, you can use soap
and shampoo in the bathhouse, a really nice change for cruisers in search of something
more than a navy shower (which we were).
We
spent three days soaking in the tubs and enjoying life on the busy dock,
meeting fellow-cruisers and getting some ideas about anchorages we should visit
before we have to be in Wrangell in two weeks time. We could have stayed
forever, but the latest round of bad weather had quickly cleared out and we
needed to do the same – there was still so much we wanted to see and do.
Note: This blog entry was written
on Friday, 24 July 2015.
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