Yakin Update - Recap

May 31 Update from Donald:

Arrived in whittier safe and sound. spent two gorgeous days in blackstone bay exploring the glaciers. everyone paddled up to the face and saw massive calving. a few of us did a night paddle to the face leaving at midnight getting back at two- no lights necessary. we saw a bear swimming the fjord to willard island. spent the last night at decision pt and had a big potluck and finished the food. The final paddle to Whittier nearly everyone pranked each other and all paddled with large rocks in boats. people split fast and journeys home started yesterday.

This will be the last message, but hopefully some pictures will be posted soon and I'll email with the location. thanks for following us!

Yakin Update - May 25-26 - Shrimp and Glacial Streams

May 25, via SatPhone:

paddled to blackstone bay in great weather. got shrimp from a fisherman for dinner. camping at the base of tebenkof glacier tomorrow exploring it

May 26, via SatPhone:

hiked to the toe of the tebenkof glacier which involved bushwacking postholing and fording glacial streams. i crossed with curt and then kelly basically ran across. matt crossed further downstream and also almost went under. after crossing i decided to swim less than half a mile from the source. mighty cold but refreshing. and we have a bear neighbor who comes out in the afternoon

Yakin Update: May 22-23 - 'best weather yet'

Here are two posts from yesterday and today:

May 22 via SatPhone

camping two nights in s side foul bay. saw first black bear at lighthouse reserve pt along with a humpback at 25 yds

May 23 Via SatPhone:

camping in hidden bay on culross island. fast paddle in the best weather yet

Yakin Update - May 21 - Funky Phone

May 21 via SatPhone:

phone being funky. alls well. had a weather day at taylor glacier with small craft advisory. camped last night at division pt after exploring beautiful nellie juan glacier and the tidal lagoon in front. on to lighthouse reserve
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Additionally, Donald called this morning. He had been sending txts all week since Whittier, but none had gotten through. The text above is from this morning after we discussed some brief phone maintenance that might help. Success!!

As per last week's message, the group is definitely not going to Seward, but will return to Whittier on the 30th. He plans to call again in a day or two to verify that the SMS messages are working again.

There is also a new SPOT that was posted this morning.

Link to Spot Adventure: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=69556

Yakin Update - May 16

Note: The group resupplied in Whittier this past Saturday, along with a change in some group members (people who were only there for 2 weeks of the trip and others that joined up). Our read into this text is that they may be ending the trip in Whittier rather than Seward.

May 16 via SatPhone

camping at the n side of culross passage. today was a 15 mi day with two big crossings. the group decided that they are not going around the cape to seward. instead the plan is to head into the nellie juan fjord area

Link to Culross Passage Area: http://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/LongBayEntrance-CulrossPassage-PrinceWilliam

Link to Nellie Juan Fjord: http://web.cortland.edu/barclayd/nelliejuan/flyby.htm

Yakin Update - May 12 - brief

oh man. paddled 18 mi today. camping on the s side of pigot bay just around the corner from passage canal and eventually whittier. but tomorrow a layover. curt wanted to explore the pt aileen is doing some rolling and canyon and i were going to try to paddle up a river at the end of the inlet

Yakin Update - Williwaws!!

Here is last night's update:

 

just made it back to the main group camp about two mi east of pt doran. we spent the majority of the day hunkered down from williwaws coming down from the mtns to the nw. 25 kts sustained plus gusts. at 330 there was a lull long enough for us to get off the beach. once we crossed the fjord it became rough but easy sailing downwind to the group. kudos to aileen and kelly for having a passing heli make sure we were ok

 

Link to Spot Adventure:  http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=69556

 

Also, here is a chart view of their area.  Valdez is about 40-50 miles to the east and Whittier is about than 25 miles southwest. 

 

Yakin Update- very brief -

From late last night:

both nicks erin and i paddled 21 mi to the end of harriman fjord. gorgeous

 

 

 

Mother's Day Yakin Update

Mother's Day - May 8th:

paddled esther passage today in sun and rain showers. crossed pt wells in perfect glassy conditions. camping just inside the entrance to harriman fjord on the n side. happy mothers day

They are within about 50 miles of Whittier and will be exploring the inlets between the current location and Whittier over the next 4-5 days.

Link to Spot Adventure: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=69556

Yakin Update - May 8

Here are some posts from the last couple of days:

 

May 5^th/6^th: camping on the s side of olsen island at the entrance to unakwik inlet. tomorrow is a rest and relaxation day. im going to paddle the inlet curt and lowell are going to boulder. it was sunny just long enough to dry things out. saw humpies and sea otters at dinner

 

May 7^th:  camping on east flank island tonight. matt had our first bear encounter. he ran into two tiny cubs while scouting for a site. needless to say not camping there. yesterday i paddled up unakwik while everyone else hung out in camp. i think it was 26 mi round trip. curt lowell and carlos bouldered and lots of people showered

 

Link to Spot Adventure:  http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=69556

 

 

 

Kayaking Update - Sunday evening May 1

The group left yesterday from Valdez. Here are the brief updates from yesterday and today:

April 30: In shoup bay. rainy but calm first day. smooth loading, humpback feeding within 10 yds of us, eagles over dinner. paddling went well! 11 miles, 5 hours or so including breaks. roaming so won't do pictures. not a strong enough signal.

May 1: Via SatPhone: In sawmill bay for night 2. blue skies and good paddling conditions. boats are very full. trying to empty them out by eating lots of our ration. if weather holds tomorrow we are heading around pt freemantle. its gorgeous here. may never return. ok phone off

Link to Spot Adventure: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=69556

Link to Shoup Bay Marine Park Info: http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/pwssmp/smpvald.htm

Link to Sawmall Bay Info: http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/perp/grs/pws/pwsne12sawmillbay.pdf