The Marble Grotto

More exploration! With the post-adrenaline high of our bear encounter, more excitement was in order. Just 30 nautical miles to the north is a large bay on Chichagof Island.

Basket Bay is deep and exposed to wind, but a fine place on a calm day (and night as it turned out) to anchor in about 100 feet of water and explore a stream at the head of the bay.

At low tide there are rocks, cascades and shallow reaches better suited for exploring on foot.

Uh-oh. After our initial foray, we returned to Dog Star to set crab pots and went for a walk.

Julie is prepared with air horn and bear spray. (Those bears were big!)

As the tide began to rise, we were able to make a little headway. Did you see the salmon jumping at the beginning? We landed and poked around a bit.

A few more feet of water, and we were able to clear an obstruction and see the next one.

The stream flows under this beautiful marble arch and lined by marble cliffs and tall trees.

We passed under the arch and beached the dinghy again for more exploring on foot, waiting for the tide to cover up the rocks and cascades.

Vibrant colors and patterns everywhere.

Lots of time for selfies and trying to peak around the bend.

Hopping up the creek as the tide slowly came in gave us time to see nature.

And more cool stone patterns.

Patience pays off as we see the water flowing out of a crack in the cliff, just wide enough for fish and a small dinghy to fit through. It was a cave! It was very dark inside with no exit upstream (Yikes!). The water seemed to go underground, but the fish didn't mind!

Inside the cave, fish heading upstream underground.

The way back was much easier with nearly 10 feet more water depth covering all the rocks and cascades. There is a limit to the benefit, though. We only had about 6 feet of clearance to get under the arch!

Whew! With the bay ahead...

we quickly retrieved the crab pots...success!