June 23, 2019 – Crows woke me up at 4:30 this morning. I was not ready to wake up so I put in ear plugs and went back to sleep. They uped their game, brought in more players, moved in closer until I finally gave in at 6. The village was already active, especially at the harbor. There was a Royal Canadian Search and Rescue boat/team working with different boat owners on safety issues, and people were starting to come down to either receive or send folks out on the incoming ferry to Prince Rupert.As I was packing up BABS, one of the S&R folks came over to talk with me about my trip. He asked how it’s gone and I said it was wonderful and sometimes miserable. He validated that I have not been lucky with weather this month. He suggested a different route for me to end up at a service cabin at Bishop Point across from on the east side of Gribbell Island, said it was free to use, had a wood stove I could have a fire in, dry stuff out, spend the next two rainy days in a nice warm cabin. After that, on the way to Princess Royal Channel, there were hot springs in Bishop Bay with a nice dock on which I could set up my tent.I set out on the route he and I discussed. The first six miles I would have done had I gone the way originally planned. Then I turned left to go up and around the top of Gribbell Island. It looked like it would be about the same mileage it would have been on my original route, but less dynamic water. I didn’t really want to go back into that big water area and was keen on both the cabin and hot springs. After 21.5 miles I arrived at the cabin – to see an adult and two small children in the process of moving in. Just in case I was not seeing things right, I paddled in and asked the adult, whom turned out to be a man, if they were coming or going. He said they were moving in but that we could make it work and all stay in the cabin together. I was slightly skeptical; I’ve seen some pretty small forest service cabins.Fortunately he was right. There were two extra wide bunk beds and room for a cook stove (no wood stove unfortunately). The family consted of dad Jeff and his two sons Vitali and Bjorn from Telluride, CO and are usig a whitewater raft with a motor on a three-week Canadian hot spring adventure. Like me, the cabin was as far as they made it today and are going to the springs tomorrow. If I wasn’t so whooped I may have continued on the next couple hours to the springs, but this was my longest paddle day yet. Still, I feel pretty good.A little about the route today. The rock faces around Gribbell Island are much larger and taller than I’ve seen yet. It’s hard to fully imagine the mammoth icebergs that carved these enormous and gorgeous islands. Some of rocks down by the water have such combinations of colors they are ancient lithographic works of art.I haven’t been very good about making dinner at night when I get off the water. I’m usually too pooped and end up eating leftover lunch and snack. This morning I made chicken potato soup for breakfast. It was good but I couldn’t eat it all so I am finally having dinner for dinner. Add another humpback to my count. Another fluke!
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