Tebenkof Bay is a big place with a number of smaller bays, creeks and anchorages to explore. We checked out a few spots at the end of last summer, and added a few more to our list this time… but we left plenty of spots to investigate some other time. There’s just never enough days and weeks to explore all that we’d like.

Fortunately, the trend of seeing lots of bears continued.

The first morning in a new anchorage was a three-bear bonanza. I watched two of them while drinking my coffee, then I decided to jump in the kayak and get a closer look.

This bear (above) was more skittish than the others, and as I drifted in the kayak he suddenly decided that he didn’t like having me around.

In the meantime, the first bear (the one reflected in the water in the first photo) meandered back into the forest, but I spotted a third bear turning over rocks a little farther away. This one looked like an old bear – its face was gray and it was a little skinny compared to others I’ve seen.

Sitka blacktailed deer were plentiful too – bedding down in the grass or walking around and watching me paddle.

We’ve had so much rain all summer and it has been very overcast much of the time, but on this day the wind was feather light and the sky was gorgeous. We savor every day we can spend out here in nature, but we really appreciate the pretty days.

A friend was in the area, and he needed to check on a cabin that his friend was building on a small island nearby, so we jumped into his skiff and had a fun ride zipping among the little islets. The cabin is new, but the site had some older buildings from a past owner that were neat to see, as well as a skull from a medium sized marine mammal of some sort.

It was a perfectly protected spot from the weather in any direction, with lovely views out the channels.

Our friend left us back at our boat, and by then it was time to start heading back towards town so we could re-provision for the next jaunt. Once again, a pod of Dall’s porpoise graced us with their acrobatics and amazing speed. You don’t see them as much as you see their rooster-tail splashes!

Here’s a map showing Kuiu Island and the next two bays where we spent some time exploring.

We’ve been wanting to explore the Bay of Pillars for some time, but a few comments about rocks in the cruising guide had given us pause in the past. This time we decided to poke our noses in there and see what we could see. We imagined all these rock pillars, maybe some hidden under the water, ready to crunch a propeller or something. It turns out that there are no pillars in the Bay of Pillars, and a local told us that the name probably came from some tall Spruce trees near the entrance to the bay that have since been cut down.

There certainly was a nice amount of wildlife in there, as well as some ruins from an abandoned cannery.

There were once canneries and salteries in nearly every bay around southeast Alaska – we still have two operating fish processing plants in Petersburg, and there are others in Sitka, Juneau, near Hoonah, etc. Then as well as now – it’s all about the fish!

And for us, it’s all about the beautiful scenery and wildlife.

Sublime. Lovely. Peaceful. We thoroughly enjoyed our exploration of this intriguing place, including a large back bay accessible via a long, narrow rocky cut where the current can be quite strong (we saw little whirlpools when we headed back there by skiff). Salmon streams are fed by mountain lakes, and fish were already starting to make their way up.

It’s always hard to leave a pretty place, but there are always more places to explore. Last summer we spent a little time in Tebenkof Bay – the next bay south, and left tons of territory that needed to be explored. We intended to make a little dent in that list this time, but would still leave more to see. On the way we were entertained by a couple of humpbacks feeding. One was laying on its back, slapping alternate pectoral fins….

…while the other one made a few small breaches.

We had some weather coming in so we tucked into a snug nook for shelter and some kayaking. I found a few bears – one big boar was standing in the stream hoping for some fish. There were a few around, but not too many yet. Grass would have to do for a snack.

Sea otters were plentiful – large mats of them floating on their backs. They’re wary – often one would keep an eye on me while the rest napped, played with their pups, and did all the things that sea otters do.

I found that the best way to get close to the otters is to find one that’s asleep and sneak up on it in the kayak. As I was doing that, I realized that I was right next to a rock with a number of black turnstones on it – they blended in so well that I almost missed them.

Stay tuned for more from Tebenkof Bay on Kuiu Island…