First Bushwhack at Bay of Isles for UnCruise

 

Climbing up the hillside led to amazing views of the snowcapped, 3000ft peaks on Knight Island.

This week on our expedition cruise out of Whittier, AK, we explored many secluded locations in Prince William Sound. This pristine ecosystem, where the ocean meets towering mountains, ringed by temperate rainforest, and dotted with frozen glaciers marching towards to ocean, seems to be a hidden jewel in Alaska's wilderness crown. I have been shocked to see so few other boats, and none that are doing what we are doing. Today's stop was a new one for me, a place called Bay of Isles on the east side of Knight Island.

The other guide onboard, Jeremy, and I woke up early, before all the guests in order to scout out different landings and entrances into the Chugach National Forest. We had scouted this location for months using topographical maps, google earth, and the Chugach National Forest service, but its always worth getting eyes on since you never really know what it'll be like in person. We scouted a bunch of different landings and entrances within the zone that we have national forest permits for. A few looked pretty good, but only after scrambling up small cliffs and through dense forest.... perfect for our hard charging bushwhacking groups, but difficult for the folks looking for an easier 'forest poke.'

The initial scramble off the beach was one of the hardest parts, until we got to the true bushwhacking of course.

Eventually we found a scramble that most everyone could do, so we went back to the boat, finished breakfast, and then loaded up for adventure. I took out the bushwhacking group for our first big hike of the trip. Everyone tackled the initial scramble and then the terrain opened up into a vertical muskeg. This is Alaska's version of a young peat bog. The open land allowed us to gain elevation quickly. The hillside itself was covered in wildflowers like arctic shooting stars, siberian iris, chocolate lilies, and violets. A closer look at the soft earth exposed thousands, maybe millions of tiny carnivorous plants called sundews. The views from the ridgeline were beautiful, totally worth the climb. But we weren't done yet. This was billed as a bushwhack after all.

I made sure everyone stopped from time to time and looked around.

We connected open muskegs across the peninsula until finally hitting a patch of dense forest. A lone deer trail led off into the trees and underbrush, so I was hopeful that the local animals would show us the easiest way through. Turns out that the deer who made this path must have been part mountain goat, as we quickly found ourselves bushwhacking through devils club and downed trees on a steep hillside. It was a big challenge for the guests, but they persevered. I could see their collective breath of relief after we left the deer trail, bushwhacked our way down the cliffside, to another opening below.

This was after we had busted out of the cliffy, bushwhacky section of the hike.

Even though it was quite difficult while it was happening, the amount of instant bonding that the group discovered after completing the adventure was astounding. Its moments like these that truly make expedition cruising one of the best ways to travel and explore new places. Sure, we had to push back lunch a bit for our late arrival back at the boat, but the adventure was the talk of the boat for the rest of the day.

Carnivorous sundews, hoping to trap bugs in their sticky dew-like liquid.

Arctic shooting star flower.

We made it out of the forest! Now onward to the pickup spot. Time to complete the first ever transit of this peninsula by an UnCruise group.

If you look closely you can find the Safari Explorer, awaiting the return of its adventurers and the stories they will bring.

The wildflowers are in full bloom here and the sun was out. Short sleeve hiking weather!

Everyone was quite please with themselves with the amount of elevation gained during our hike. We stopped at one point to just sit down, take photos, and soak it all in.

Sometimes the best thing to do in a bushwhack is to just sit down and scoot on your butt. Thankfully the moss made this section nice and soft for scooting.

Climbing into the mist. Knight Island, Alaska.

All smiles after our first big bum slide down a steep section of the bushwhack.