Thursday | July 21

Yes Bay

“Like winds and sunsets, wil things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cos in things natural, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television, and the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech.”

--Aldo Leopold, 1948. A Sand County Almanac

Sunshine for the first time in a long time in Yes Bay! Does anybody know where the name “Yes Bay” comes from? I’ve asked a couple of employees at the Yes Bay Lodge and have not seen any history labeled on the charts for this particular area.

Highlights include yodeling Common Loons, and an occasional bear that makes very brief entrances before ducking back into the forest.

I lead a group of kayakers into the inner bay.

I am surprised by the loud ringing “deew deew deew” voice of a shorebird I’d normally associate near the shoreline. The greater yellowlegs that we finally noticed was on top of a tall sitka spruce tree on a tiny island in the middle of the bay.

Another discovery was that of an old trail-head sign hidden in the trees. It is an old access route for hikers going to Lake McDonald, just a mile or so through a jungle of trees and mosses.

In the evening, we lift anchor and go on a mystical journey at a slow speed through the inlets adjacent to Yes Bay. The scenery is fabulous through Klu Bay and Shrimp Bay.

We see a sign of a forest fire that covered hundreds of acres. Many of us are a bit perplexed since the area receives around 12-feet of rain annually.

There are a few clear-cut logging operations in the area with some roads put in to landing areas on the coast. We enjoy looking at the waterfall coming out of Orchard Lake. I am able to point out a bear to a few passengers before it disappears into a small cove out-of-site from our decks.

These are the moments that are unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable on a cruise. We have nothing but curiosity and the capacity to be inspired…which helps when we are not in any hurry to get to our next destination.

In a week-long journey with InnerSea Discoveries in Southeast Alaska, we are not covering any huge distances, for example from Seattle to Skagway and back in 7 days. This means we have plenty of time for “expedition”-style cruising to discover what we might discover in the back coves of the Inside Passage of Alaska.

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