Ford’s Terror

Interesting name right? Apparently it was named after a guy entered at slack water then was stuck in the inlet until next slack water, which I guess he found pretty terrifying. Not sure what is so scary here though. Rather it is exceptionally beautiful – as Jess said it is like driving your boat into Yosemite. The entrance is very narrow and can only be navigated at slack water or it becomes a torrent of whorls and overfalls.

The inlet is all sheer granite cliffs and tumbling waterfalls. We remarked how there is no mark of mankind here. No garbage, no old settlements, no history of logging. The only thing to mark the passage of time here would be the retreat of the glaciers, scouring the cliffs as they left. The remoteness felt endless. Despite the constricted entrance the inlet had a plethora of sea life, we saw seals and porpoise in the water, herons and eagles ashore and evidence of bear, but no furry friend sightings here.  The water was a interesting shade of emerald. We tried to go for a walk but only made it half a mile before the slippery rocks and bugs pushed us back to the dinghy.

The bugs swarmed up by the hundred in the cockpit, so we mostly had to stay tucked inside. I don’t think they were biting, but they were extremely annoying, flying in my face and mouth and eyes. We left at slack water at 1 pm today and ran a good 50 miles to our next anchorage. We have been doing a crazy amount of motoring in SE Alaska. I remember back when a 20 mile day seemed far. Now that is ‘only 20 miles’!! We have done almost 1000 nm so far in SE Alaska. That is the distance from Ketchikan to Vancouver!