Winter is Coming

The Summer Solstice has now passed so the days are starting to get shorter. Today we’ll have almost 18 hours of daylight, but it will shrink to about six and a half hours by late December and we’re all very aware of losing those precious minutes every day.

Speaking of seasons, we haven’t had much summery weather up here so far. It has been chilly and rainy, with highs in the mid 50s and lows in the high 40s. But sometimes the rain brings a rainbow…

The flowers don’t seem to mind the weather – the lupine has been blooming…

…and the plants that thrive in the acidic muskeg (Alaskan bog).

Bog laurel
Buckbean

Deer stroll along the rocky shoreline when the tide is out…

…and the salmonberries are just starting to form fruit. I suspect the berries will be late this year because of all the cold, wet weather.

From Red Bluff Bay we cruised to Warm Springs Bay – a place we’ve often visited, with a dock and tiny boardwalk community. The roaring waterfall is deafening, especially after weeks of rain and plenty of snow up on the mountains.

Warm Springs Bay is also where there’s a natural hot spring next to the top of the falls – you can hike up there to soak in the rocky pools, or there’s a little bath house plumbed to the hot springs if you prefer to soak in a tub. Understandably, the tubs were closed due to the virus.

The phase of the moon meant that we had some very big tides, which is a great opportunity to take the kayak into the salt pond across the way. It’s not accessible at low tide, and with these big tides it was like running rapids as the incoming tide was rushing through the narrow entrance. Inside it was a world away – peaceful and pretty.

From Warm Springs it’s only five nautical miles up to Takatz Bay – another beautiful place with a number of waterfalls. Here’s a drone’s-eye view of it.

Words can’t describe it.

It’s hard to leave, but there are more places to explore…

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