We have a couple of guidebooks that we use to help us decide where to travel. They have information on various coves and bays, and tell a bit about the kind of anchoring conditions we can expect. They also sometimes give a bit of history or local color, but they typically understate the natural beauty that we find in this area.
We were intrigued by one of the books’ description of Verney Passage: “Verney Passage has to be one of the more beautiful places we have ever seen”. Enough said – let’s go take a look!
After spending a quiet night at anchor after soaking in some local hot springs, we headed a bit out of our way to check it out.
Wow! The passage consists of 15-20 miles of a glacier-carved valley with a 1000+ foot deep channel at it’s base. The cliffs are sheer granite that was polished by the glacial moraine, and they stretch from sea level up to 3500 feet elevation.
There are treed valleys that give way to enormous cirques that look large enough to contain an entire ski resort. And of course the requisite waterfalls at what seems like half mile intervals. It’s one of those places that is difficult to capture with pictures.
We saw one fishing boat as we left the anchorage in the morning, but other than that we had the entire passage to ourselves. We feel incredibly lucky to be able to experience things like that.
