Alaska To Italy: Kayaking Culross Passage Whittier, AK

Hey there! One of the hardest things about living in Italy(tough life, right) has been missing Alaska so much. So I've decided to start posting some of my favorite trips and trails, starting with a four day kayaking expedition out of Whittier. This was a year ago(already?), so some of the specifics are a little fuzzy, but you've come to the right place for all of the important stuff.

Esther brought an AWESOME camera, this picture is now blown up to 24X36 in our living room.

Trip Preparation

Rentals/Reservations:

-We booked a water taxi from Whittier to the North side of Culross Passage with Lazy Otter Charters and would absolutely recommend planning your trip with them. Our travel buddies, Scott and Esther, rented fiberglass kayaks from them as they we're the most affordable in the area and it was nice to have the bill all bundled together. We arranged to be dropped off at a beach on the mainland side of the north entrance of the passage and picked up on the island side of the south end. Their rates for kayak rentals are posted on their website, but you need to give them a phone call for prices on the water taxi as it depends on mileage and the number of people you're transporting.

-The first night we stayed in a state owned cabin on Shrode Lake. Rentals can be made on recreation.gov.

Click this for a link to this NOAA map.

Packing List:

-We packed our(what we thought at the time) 'bomb proof' North Face Summit Series Mountian 25 Tent.

-Big Agnes Double Z Sleeping Pad and Exped SynMat 7 Sleeping pad

-15-20 degree sleeping bags(we have synthetic Therm-a-rest and Northface bags)

-Food: mostly we ate Mountain Houses/Backpacker's Pantry, ramen, granola, and tea.

-a 10x15 foot tarp(or LIFESAVER)

-Jetboil Zip and a couple lighters

-Kayaking Essentials: Waterboots, Lifejacket, Spray Skirt, Paddles, Sponges, Neoprene Gloves

-Clothes: Rain Jacket, Rain Pants, Hiking Pants, Puffy, NON-COTTON Thermals, Patagonia Better Sweater, Wool Socks, Underwear(something comfortable to sit on, maybe leave the lacy stuff at home boys and girls!)

-Water filter

-Water bottles

-Hiking Boots

-Hammock(I LOVE this one from Henessy Hammocks)

-Compression/Dry Bags
-Toiletries(Don't forget the TP!)

-Trash bags(work well for keeping less important stuff dry and doubles as an actual bag for trash)

Every big trip like this deserves a gear pic!

The Plan

Day One:

The Shrode Lake Cabin from Day One.

We got dropped off at the beach on mainland side of the north end of the passage in the afternoon(what a mouthful!). We took our time paddling around as it was sunny and BEAUTIFUL. There are a lot of little islands and rocks to stop on in between the drop off point and the opening of Long Bay. We paddled into Long Bay as far as we were able and hauled our kayaks up the hill to hide and tie them off in on some trees. Be cautious of how high the water can rise in this part of the bay. The grass was laying over where the water had come up and gave us a good reference point, but we were nervous so we really hiked them up there(I mean UP!). There is a well marked trail starting where fresh water feeds into Long Bay from Shrode Lake. The cabin is on the left as you hit the end of the trail at the lake. We filtered water from the lake.

Day Two:

Scott and Esther's Tent on Day Two

We took off late the next morning, no rush since we were only paddling at most 10 miles a day. At the mouth of Long Bay is a fairly narrow part of the passage, so this is where we made our crossing. We headed back up north to Goose Bay to check out a cabin that ended up being closed and boarded up due to some snow damage back in 2013. We hiked around in Goose Bay, looking for somewhere to pitch our tents and decided to paddle further south after finding a big, FRESH pile of bear poop. We found a place on the island side of the passage to pull our kayaks into and hiked up a hill to set up camp for the night. I would suggest paddling a couple miles further to the end of the passage. The place we found was marshy and not very pleasant. The camp at the end of the passage is well established(we found a couple of frolf targets), protected, and the view is breath taking.

Mine and Dave's tent on the marsh, Day Two.

Day Three:

After a long night and morning of rain, it let up enough for us to get packed up and make our final kayak paddle down the passage to our pick up point. You'll find the camp/pick up beach at the most narrow point between Culross Island and Applegate Island. There is a stream back up the passage where you can find fresh water to filter. There's not a lot of firewood in the area, but we managed without a campfire.

Day Four;
We packed up and took off early in the morning, having set up camp at the pick up location.

The Trip/Thoughts

Esther in her hammock

Day One was fantastic! The water taxi was a bigger boat and had a wildlife tour going on that we hadn't expected, so we got the scenic route with tons of sea life out to our drop point. It was hot and sunny, the water clear and glassy, and the salmon were running all along Long Bay. We were harassed by a sea lion on our way in and Scott paddled close to check it out, only to be run off by the sea creature after it started splashing its tail and blowing bubbles at us(weird?). There is a pretty narrow waterway at the end of the main part of Long Bay that we went past and up to find 'real end' where the creek from Shrode Lake fed into the saltwater. This area was swarming with salmon and we spent the good part of an afternoon trying to catch one with our bare hands. The area around the trail head was loaded with salmonberries and blueberries that kept us full, but on the lookout for bears. The hike is was an easy, scenic one. The trail is well maintained, a little bit of mud, but there are boards to step on in the really messy stuff.

We got to the cabin and were rewarded with a crazy view of the lake. The fireweed was blooming and it was sunny and clear. It's a nice little A-frame cabin with a double-wide bunk on either side of the main room. There is a picnic bench and counter in the cabin with a log book to sign. Water filtering was easy, just a short walk to the lake shore. We hiked up the hill to the left of the cabin(facing the lake) and set up hammocks. I took some pictures of the brightly colored berries, and then read in the hammock for a while. We slept well that night and got a lazy start to kayaking the next day.

Dave paddling out of Long Bay, Day Two

Walking the kayaks to deeper water

The little beach we stopped at for lunch, Day Two

Day Two was a little overcast, the water was still pretty calm and clear, it was hard to beat the sunshine from the day prior. We had lunch on a little beach just before leaving Long Bay and crossing the passage. We paddled into Goose Bay and checked out the area, looking for a nice place to set up camp. The cabin is worth checking out, even though it's boarded up and there's 'crime scene' tape around it(creepy!). There are little waterfalls feeding into the bay and lots of berries to eat. We continued our search for a campsite after the guys found a big pile of fresh bear poop in Goose Bay.

The place we ended up camping was kind of a blunder. We looked for a flat place to camp for what seemed like forever and finally found this 'gem.' We pitched our tent on the highest point of a swamp, but it was still a swamp. Our footprints treated us well that night, but mine and Dave's tent waterproofing did not. We woke up in the middle of the night to rain that had soaked through the rain-fly and started dripping on our heads. Kind of disappointing with an almost six hundred dollar tent, but it was our fault as we hadn't kept up with treating our tent's waterproofing. Luckily, I packed a tarp as an afterthought and we ran down to the kayaks to grab it. We threw it over the tent and my husband, the innovative person that he is, starts figuring out how to secure it. He started to whittle tent stakes out of sticks, and tried to use paracord and tension to keep it all together. Me, being the primal problem solver that I am, started throwing big rocks on the tarp to fix the dilemma until morning. Two methods, one a little more refined than the other. It sure was something to see though, David in his boxers in the rain, trying to engineer a solution.

David next to a frolf course target near the camp, Day Three

Day Three was a little dreary in the morning. The water was a bit choppy, but since it's such a well protected passage, we weren't too worried. We made the short paddle to the last campsite where we set up our tents on a narrow point with water access on both sides of our camp. There is a huge boulder with trees growing on it that we set up next to. We prepared a bit better this time by hanging the tarp over our tent and an area to keep dry while we eat. The tree coverage picked up most of the rain but it was a nice, bright blue sense of security. The guys went to get water back up the passage after we unpacked and Esther took this opportunity to hang her hammock in the trees on top of the boulder, while I wandered around taking photos and finding sea glass. After they got back, we ate dinner and Dave and I took off to check out the trails around the island. Even though it was overcast and would sprinkle from time to time, it's an absolutely stunning area to see. The trees are huge and covered in moss, there is plenty of foraging for sea glass to be done, and berries to eat.

Day Four we woke up to someone yelling, "Taylor, party of four?!" The Lazy Otter water taxi showed up a couple hours early and surprised us, but the boat captain was more than happy to wait for us while we hastily packed up camp. The ride back to the Whittier docks was a lot shorter than the ride out, but I think we appreciated it, ready to make the drive back home and shower. The captain was friendly as ever, stopping to let us check out a rock where sea lions were laying around, waiting for the sun to come back out.

We got back to Lazy Otter, surrendered our rental gear, and took advantage of their in house coffee shop(which is fantastic!). We loaded up our Subie, Esther and Scott did the same, and hurried to make the tunnel(a schedule can be found here). After getting home, I loaded my photos onto my computer and got to work editing them.

David checking out the lake by the cabin, Day One

All In All,

'Bad' weather and sunshine, rainy tents and cozy cabins, this trip had it all and I will absolutely be making a return to Culross Passage. Looking back, the only thing I would change is the location of our second night camp. The ease of access to fresh water was nice, but didn't outweigh the watery earth and difficulty finding a place four our tents. I would absolutely recommend Lazy Otter to a friend, both for rental services and water taxi. They also offer charter and guided tour services and with customer service like they have, I'm sure it'll be what you're looking for. This trip is a must do for locals and visitors alike!