Just north and west of Juneau, Alaska and east of Glacier Bay National Park lie two bays offering protected waters, teaming with life on its shores and within its waters. Paddle with us for seven days along miles of gravel beaches and beneath towering ocean cliffs. These waters are great for paddlers of all abilities and the wilderness we will experience is world class.

The journey begins in Juneau, Alaska. Although part of the mainland, Juneau is not connected by any road system, making it a de facto island and the beginning of our sea kayak expedition. Surrounded by water and towering mountains, this town of 35,000+ hearty residents has no roads linking it with the rest of Alaska. Travel by air or by sea are the only ways to get here and away. Like so many Alaskan towns, people flocked to Juneau in the late 1800’s because of gold. Joe Juneau and Richard Harris discovered gold here in 1880, aided by the Tlingit and their Chief Kowee. In 1900, the town became the state capital and is the largest town in Southeast Alaska, acting as a hub for all the smaller communities also not connected to the road system.

Berners Bay, in Tlingit, means “between two points.” It is an incredibly rich and diverse watershed full of life, both in its waters and on its shores. Located northwest of Juneau, the Bay is the home of the Wooshkeetaan Auke people who have lived, hunted, fished, and gathered berries at the Bay for thousands of years. The Bay is about 3.5 miles wide at the entrance, between Point Bridget and Point St. Marys and has nearly 40 miles of coastline. Berners Bay is surrounded by Tongass National Forest, home to black and brown bears, wolves, moose, and mountain goats, as well as many other species. Berners Bay is fed by four glacial rivers: the Antler River, Berners River, and Lace River, as well as Cowee Creek. These rivers are spawning habitat for Pacific salmon, including at least 60,000 coho salmon per year, as well as chum and pink salmon, Pacific herring and cutthroat trout.

During the spring runs, herring and eulachon (a small energy-rich forage fish) flood into Berners Bay to spawn in numbers estimated to be between 10 and 20 million. The fish are followed by humpback whales, harbor seals, sea lions, killer whales and tens of thousands of shorebirds seeking to feed on these fish. Additionally, up to 600 bald eagles come to feast on the “silver tide” of eulachon, forming the second largest congregation of bald eagles in North America.

St James Bay is located across the fjord and due east of Juneau. The entrance to the bay is formed by St James Point and Pt. Whidbey, and is part of the St James Bay Marine Park. Within the protected waters of the bay there are more than 30 miles of coastline, with a number of islands and a historic portage created by the Tlingit generations ago to access a very protected anchorage in Boat Harbor. The lush lowlands and wetlands are tremendous habitat for brown bears, wolves, moose and waterfowl. As you head into the mountains we see mountain goats and wolverine in abundance, but these are just a few of the species we may see while on its shores. The protected waters in this bay are exceptionally deep and full of life, hosting a wealth of marine mammals like humpbacks, orcas, sea lions, and seals.

Haines is an overlooked gem on the emerald necklace of towns strung along the Inside Passage. A magnificent location, rough around the edges, shaped by quirky characters and a zig-zagged history that includes an army fort, a prominent Native settlement, army installations, a religious mission, and commercial fishing, timbering and mining, Haines isn’t easily defined. Its most alluring attractions are dispersed and take time to hunt down. But the town is an accurate thumbnail of Alaska, mesmerizing for its beauty and memorable for its characters and quirk.