Paddling Ugak Bay

[Philip]

This Friday I drove out to Pasagshak and then paddled up to the head of Ugak Bay for the weekend. It's a lovely place. Launching at Pasagshak is easy when the wave surge on the beach is small, and during light westerlies like we had this weekend, life in Ugak is really quite pleasant. There are nice beaches pretty much everywhere, and plenty of wildlife to see. The real treat is how close you are to the spine of the island once you make your way back towards Hidden Basin. Dramatic, snowy mountains make for a fine backdrop. There are also a large number of cool sea arches to discover. If you have not explored Ugak, it's definitely worth a couple of days of your time.

Map of my route:



Sea arches and sea mounts near Long Island outside Pasagshak:







Where I camped the first night (looking out):



Where I camped the first night (looking in):



Late afternoon sunlight shining through the beginnings of a sea arch, big enough to walk through:











Hidden Basin:

[Philip]

As you can tell, there are a lot of birds in Ugak:



The terns were great:







Seems late to be laying eggs:



Lovely conditions for a paddle:



Huge numbers of seals out there:



Fat and happy:







That's one big eagle nest:









Good stuff. Go get some.

[kayakhans]

Wonderful pictures. Lucky you for using these wonderful days for kayaking

[mrsquishy]

Great trip and photos. For those who might want a shorter paddling trip, the Saltery Cove road is driveable by 4WD vehicles (I saw Jeeps, mini-Blazers, etc on it during my trip in early July); my wife and I drove the kayaks in a few years back and did the loop to Hidden Basin and back.