A few days was spent in Port Alexander with very hospitable local, Laurie and her family. It was the first time in weeks where Lachie and I were able to really enjoy the warm weather and wake up with no real agenda. After the portage we were both feeling beat up, bruised and in need of some hand ground coffee, homebaked fresh blueberry muffins and a large deck to sprawl out on and soak it all up. It was a total treat after a tough physical week of paddling. Plus Laurie had the best vegie garden I had seen since leaving Australia nearly a year and a half ago.

Conversations and the extended family network (ie: the neighbour kids) were abundant during the hours spent on the deck overlooking the water. Yet another piece of Alaskan paradise. Lach headed out salmon fishing with a local named Charlie, trolling for about 2 hours caught them 21 silver salmon. Guess what was for dinner! With a regretable departure we headed off during late afternoon 2 days later, only to be stopped by a brutal head wind and the largest tidal rips of the year. We paddled a whole nautical mile that day and set up camp, pretty much at the next point travelling north of Port Alexander.  

The paddle north on the inside of Baranof took us 4 days, the winds still, the weather warm, whales present and the rock and mountaineering routes endless. Lori had warmed me up for the impressive peak, Mt Ada; its only seen one ascent that she knows of. A full day of paddling along the base of peaks interupted by equally impressive bays, lead us to a little cove. Here to our surprise we happened upon a seasonal camp for the department of fish and game operating in conjunction with the village of Kake. Headed by fish expert, Jeremy, their job was to record, measure and tag all of the salmon entering the lake via the fish ladder.

the dock at Port Alexander

the dock at Port Alexander	Lauries beautiful vegie garden...yum!	soft grass outside Laurie and Martys home	Ahhh ....hand ground coffee on the deck
the kids swimming in their front yard	heading out of Port Alexander	rugged mountains of Baranof Island	hanging on the ocean watching the humpbacks
check the size of this jellyfish!	collecting fresh water	tidal difference of around 18ft here	salmon trawler with Mt Ada behind it
misty cove waterfall	the falls	water collection straight from the mountains	the fresh falls entering the ocean
apparently these mountains don't see many people	glacier under Mt Ada	sunset - south in Chatham strait	Falls Cove, Kake fish counting sight
the fish trap	the guys recording fish data inside the trap	measuring and taking scales from the fish	Jeremy in the fish trap recording data
the fish passageway	the living quarters	measuring the salmon	looking over the inlet where the fish swim up