Day 79 - Miles to go; Rod

We enjoyed a great hike in Punchbowl Cove today. It was advertised as a muddy scramble to a lake and it was definitely all of that with a slippery, moss covered boardwalk thrown in for good measure. The payoff, aside from the heart pumping exercise and the beautiful trail through lush, mossy forest, was a gorgeous freshwater lake beneath towering cliffs. The trail was reported to have a lot of bear activity, so it was fun to think of creative ways to make a lot of noise while hiking. Thankfully we saw plenty of scat, but no bears. With all the noise we were making there was probably not a bear within ten country miles.

Returning to the boat, we pulled up the anchor and headed around the corner from the cove to see a bird rookery and check out a scramble route to a ridge that our buddy John H told us about.

The rookery turned out to be a verdant cliff towering over the the water, covered in moss and shrubbery, and dotted with nesting sea birds. It was an active, cacophonous community. We drifted below the maelstrom for a short time and imagined what it would be like to live among them, perched in a small indentation in the cliff face, looking out over the sea and protecting our young.

The scramble route around the corner to the rookery looked inviting. With another day to tarry, we'd have loved to find our way to the top. As it was, we were compelled to make our way out of the inlet and get going to the next anchorage. We have flights to keep and miles to go before we sleep.

Photos above by Rod; Photo below by Sue