We weren't the first ones on the beach that morning.

The mouth of the Battle River is against the rock on the left. A large sand spit (shown here as the glassy area) extends out on an otherwise easily approached beach.

An estuary extends back 1/4 mile and then fallen timber clogs the little river. We were in search of fresh water.

We needed fresh water on board and for a quick bath.

Our bungie anchor system kept us off of the beach (just barely) during low tide while we were gone.

It was easy to get close to the sandpipers, but they seemed to always fly away when I lifted my camera.

We continued north to Columbia Cove on the Brooks Peninsula, used twice by Captain Gray in 1791. Probably a great anchorage for a large sailing vessel. Nothing special for us. In fact it was our windiest anchorage (other than Volcanic Cove before we decided to move).

Looking from the Acous Peninsula out towards the Cuttle Islets.

There was enough swell out at the islets that it was difficult to get the horizon correct in my photos. Lots of otters much closer to the boat than at Quatsino.

Just enough swell to make photography difficult.

Glassy all the way to the horizon.

Our favorite anchorage at Limpet Lagoon. A winding 12' deep, 20' wide, rocky opening into a perfectly protected sandy bottom. Plus a black bear on the beach.

The approach to Limpet Lagoon is well marked, sort of.

The smoke filled the sound after a couple of days. I took this picture when we returned to Fair Harbor for gas. It is taken from the same spot as the first picture of the marina. Visibility was 1/10 of a mile in parts of the sound and there was none of the "refreshing" feeling of fog.

We headed back out to the outlying islets where the air was clear. Time for some more fishing. We had already caught a couple ling cod returning from the Brooks Peninsula.

A blue lingcod next to a regular lingcod. Even the guts were blue.

The difference when processed and frozen.

Another salmon on board. We didn't catch anything that would actually fit in our cooler. Not that I'm complaining.

We were having our fish processed at SRP Processing at the SlamBang Lodge. This is what the smoke looked like when we dropped off our catch one evening.

When driving out, we came across several of the fires. The little town of Zeballos had been evacuated, but we were able to pass by.

High lakes put to good use.

The road was closed at one point, but we were assured that it would be opened soon and it was.

While waiting for the road to open, I took a picture of the car and boat covered with ashes and dust. I kept the air on to keep our 140# of processed fish frozen. The boxes of fish are now mummified in our bedding, including our Therma-rest mattresses.

Here is a map of the area north of Kyuquot Sound (from a hiking book). The inlets were filled with smoke, so we will have to go back again to explore those areas. And now that I know that Kyuquot doesn't have gas, I'll take another 10 gallons.