It isn’t raining this morning….right now anyway. I set out paddling toward the opposite direction from yesterday. The water is flat calm — perfect paddling conditions.

We have a very low tide this morning, so exploring the shoreline is more interesting. I spotted some unusual critters hanging from the rocks that I’d never seen before. I haven’t been able to identify them in my reference book.

Then I spotted lots of snails, more than I’d ever seen in one spot. It would be interesting to know why they pick one spot and not another. I guess I’ll have to do some Googling.

There were also several types of Chitons and an interesting barnacle.

Something I found unusual was the fact that almost every starfish I came across was either dead or had legs missing. Al thinks it’s because the gulls eat them. This was the only starfish that looked halfway healthy.

While the critters I found on the rocks were interesting, I was wondering where all the birds had gone to, when I spotted this loon having a little breakfast.

I stalked him for atleast 30 minutes. Every time I got ready to get a great shot, he’d dive. So, then I’d have to paddle like crazy trying to figure where he might resurface, and where I’d have to be to have the sun at my back. This guy gave me a real workout.

All the rain we’ve been getting has created lots of streams and waterfalls. I now know that if you want to find fresh water, look for mussels. Mussels seem to love fresh water.

I finally remembered that some of you wanted to see a picture of me in my blog. So, I had Al take this photo of me looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, with all those numerous layers of clothing to keep me dry and warm, plus a life preserver, VHF radio, and my camera…..all under my extra large jacket.

Late this afternoon, I was editing the photos I took this morning, when I looked out the window and saw a young black bear on the shore. It was raining, of course, making it difficult to take pictures and keep my camera dry. But, he hung around, turning rocks and eating grass for at least an hour, while I shot a gazillion pictures.

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Today, I wanted to check out a creek with a beautiful waterfall near the entrance to Klewnuggit. The creek flows from Brodie Lake, which is extremely close to the ocean, and Brodie Lake is connected to the much larger Freda Lake. On the chart, it looks like I might be able to land near the creek on a high Spring Tide, and do a very short portage to the Brodie Lake.

It’s a 2 mile paddle to the creek, against the current, so it was going to be challenging. I checked my watch so that I could determine my progress.

Along the way I spotted a family of Mergansers. As I got closer, I discovered it was actually a mixed family of Merganser and female Surf Scoters.

I knew the waterfall was just around one of those points of land up ahead, but I didn’t know which point. I should have taken a closer look at the chart. After rounding numerous points, I finally spotted white water streaming out. I headed for it. I couldn’t see the actual falls yet, but I was comforted by a sign posted on a tree.

I made it…..Yay!!!

Judging by the high water marks on the rocks, I just might be able to find a spot to land and portage across to Brodie Lake next year. We’ll see.

I was up until after midnight working on my blog, trying to get it ready for uploading in Prince Rupert, just in case they have good WiFi there.

Consequently, this morning, I slept in until almost 0900 hrs! Too late to go paddling before breakfast, so I waited until after dinner. Of course by then the rain had returned.

While I was paddling, Al moved the boat up to the anchorage at the entrance to the inlet, just get a change of scenery, and, hopefully, wildlife.

All this rain we’ve been getting has really helped the creek.

It was near low tide, exposing lots of mussels on the rocks

A couple of Mew Gulls were taking a fishing break.

When I got to the entrance, I thought I saw some movement on the rocks at the point, but wasn’t sure. I paddled over to investigate and found a couple of Spotted Sandpipers, in constant motion, flitting over the rocks, bobbing as though they had Terret Syndrome — really cute.

We finally gave up on the bears ever returning to Verney Falls this year, and headed for Klewnuggit (East Inlet), just a couple of hours north. We got an early start and had the current going with us — perfect. Conditions couldn’t have been better for travelling, making for a lovely little cruise up the coast.

This year we anchored at the end of East Inlet, as close as possible to the little creek that comes in from a nearby lake. There is a waterfall on the creek, not as dramatic as Verney Falls, but very pretty nonetheless.

It’s raining, of course, but I was determined to get a paddle in today. So, I headed out to the entrance.

Along the way I came across this bird, which I haven’t been able to identify. He has some features like a merganser, but not all. Maybe he’s a young merganser.

He led me on a merry chase, playing hide and seek among the rocks and fallen trees, seeking the deepest shade possible, to further discourage me.

Then, we arrived at a little cove with grass surrounding the shore. He stopped. I stopped paddling, but as luck would have it, I was drifting in his direction. He was like mesmerized, not moving a muscle. I took shot after shot, each looking exactly the same, because he was like frozen. Maybe that was his strategy: “If I don’t move, maybe she’ll lose interest and go away.”

I kept clicking, until he finally had had enough and took flight. Not fair!

So, I was about to give up and head back to the boat when I spotted a solitary Common Loon fishing nearby. I paddled in his direction, hoping to get a better shot. He dove just as I was ready to get my camera out, naturally. So, I waited, camera ready, waiting for him to resurface. Then, suddenly, there he was, not 6 feet away. I nearly capsized with the shock. The Loon was equally shocked and let out a call of alarm. He soon settled down, however, and allowed me to get some pretty good shots of him.

The rain has stopped. Yay! The eagles are back in business, catching salmon. Apparently the Indians didn’t leave many, because the eagles are fighting over those that are left. This immature eagle is determined to keep this salmon to himself.

But, his elders have other ideas.

The mergansers were out and about also. They are so elusive, constantly paddling just out of range, stopping just long enough for me to get my camera out and zoomed in, and then just before I snap the shot, they’re off again. They drive me crazy!

There are many little creeks here, especially after so much rain.

I was paddling by one of these creeks, looking for the mergansers, when I stumbled across this duck. From what I’ve been able to determine by looking at pictures in my Audubon Society Field Guide, I believe it’s a Harlequin Duck — my first!

It has been raining non-stop since Thursday. This morning it’s still raining, but there isn’t much wind, so I decide to go paddling, hoping to spot a bear fishing for salmon like last year. Well, I checked out the falls, and while there were plenty of salmon jumping, the bears were still a no show. So, I headed out toward Grenville Channel, hoping I could get some photos of wildlife. I paddled for almost 3 hours, and didn’t get one shot.

This afternoon, the Indians arrived on Jan White.

They proceeded to set a gill net right at the base of Verney Falls.

As soon as they had the net in position, they started rounding up the salmon with their tenders, racing back and forth, forcing the salmon into the nets, where their gills would become entangled in the net.

That’s the fun part. Then, they start hauling in the net, painstakingly disentangling each salmon from the net.

It’s hard work, but they seem to enjoy what their doing.

They worked for hours, in pouring rain, until almost dark.

made Crab Soup for dinner, which was perfect for this rainy day.

I spent the day watching the rain, looking for bears and not finding any, and doing indoor projects like working on my blog and photo editing. I didn’t see one bear, even though there were lots of salmon jumping near the falls. Very disappointing. The eagles aren’t even flying, but just sit in the tops of trees, looking miserable, trying to dry their wings in the pouring rain. Definitely not happy campers.

I was up at 0500 hrs to check for fog. There were wisps of low lying fog here and there, but no wind. We decided the fog might just be a local condition. So, we fired up the engine and headed out for Verney Falls, in Lowe Inlet.

Within 15 minutes the fog was completely gone, and we had the current going with us — Yay!

“Whales!”, Al yelled. I grabbed my camera and started searching the horizon. I spotted two humpbacks feeding right against the shore. I took video, since trying to get still shots is almost impossible underway. I’ll have to post the video on YouTube when I get home.

By 1230 hrs, we had our anchor down right in front of Verney Falls. Well, not right in front. The only other boat in the entire anchorage had the prime spot, naturally. Within a few hours, four other boats had arrived. This is always a popular place.

The heavy rains have finally arrived. Can the salmon be far behind?

It was foggy when I got up at 0530 hrs, but I got up anyway, hoping the fog would clear by the time I got ready to go paddling. Unfortunately, the fog got worse. I waited about an hour before I finally gave up and took all my gear off to have breakfast. Bummer.

Finally, around 1100 hrs, it started raining, which cleared up the fog. I can handle rain. So, I headed up river. By now the tide was too low to get very far.

I was hoping to find grizzlies, but I had to settle for smaller game.

It was a disappointing day for photographs, but when I got back to the boat, Al had a bowl of delicious Navy Bean Soup and Beer Bread fresh from the oven to cheer me up.

We’ve had fog every morning for the last several days, so when we listened to the weather report last night and there wasn’t any mention of fog, we got the dinghy and kayak on deck, ready to leave in the morning.

It’s a foggy, rainy morning, but the tide is high, so I suit up and start paddling up Khutze River. There’s a huge drying flat at the mouth, and even at high tide you can’t get very far up before you encounter rapids. But, I’m hoping with my kayak, I’ll be able to get a little further up than in our dinghy.

There are lots of grizzlies here, so I don’t want to get too close to shore in this shallow water.

I got far enough up river to find the remains of this old wharf I’d never seen before. It’s pretty crude, so it’s probably pretty old.

Pretty soon I only had a foot or less of water under me. Time to turn around. I decided to take some shots of the waterfalls.

I spotted these eagles perched in the trees, looking for salmon.

This immature eagle was looking hungry too.

Then I spotted this pair of eagles on a rock in the river.

This guy was really hating the rain.

I don’t know what this plant is, but it sure is pretty.

A beautiful 60 ft. motoryacht named Sea Jay came into the anchorage this morning. It’s tender, Sea Eagle, was bigger than some cruising boats. We watched them set at least 4 crab traps. Khutz is a great place to catch Dungeness crabs. When they pulled the traps this afternoon, they came by to ask us if we’d like some of their crabs. They had caught over 30! So, we now have 6 lovely Dungeness crabs and never even had to set a trap. Nice neighbors.

Khutze happens to be one of the best places to catch big Dungeness Crab.