Warm Springs Cove

After Takatz Bay we headed to Warm Springs Cove to check out the hot springs and the waterfall. There is a small public dock that is very popular so we weren’t that optimistic we would get a dock space. We arrived mid-morning hoping we would be lucky though, and we were!

Wonderful fellow boaters on the dock, including a very nice family who were giving away halibut fillets because they had caught a 60 pounder but had no way to keep it all. Larry made the best halibut bits we have ever had that night for halibut tacos, and we have 3 more pounds in the freezer. Yum.

We followed the boardwalk and a hairy path to the hot springs overlooking the waterfall and had a sulfury hot soak in the evening, after the crowds that had come in from transient super yachts came and went. The benefit for us is the rain had let up and the sun poked out.

The Warm Springs community has built boardwalks and some beautiful cottages on the waterline, and also built a bath house that pipes in the hot springs to 3 individual bathing rooms. Very nicely done and a great bath opportunity – we were happy to put some dollars in the kitty to support it.

The next day was very rainy and foggy. We headed out to Portage Bay, a convenient stop on the way toward Petersburg and Wrangell Narrows as we start heading back south.

Another spectacle of whales bubble feeding in Frederick Sound- we saw one pod close to us and another in the distance. It is amazing to me that the whole effort is so quiet – they make almost no noise that we heard when they come up.

Portage Bay was huge but lined with lots of commercial crab pots. It was storming hard as we anchored so we just stayed cozy and warm in the boat that evening, but I did get some good photos during a few sun breaks – here it can be sunny and raining at the same time.