Destination: Cedar Ridge Lake Retreat

Route Notes

• This Scenery is for "Return to Misty Moorings" only.
• Minimum Altitude: 1200 Feet (Smeaton Island)
• Landing zone is: Water, not frozen in winter
• GPS for destination: N55 49.28 W131 23.20 Alt 173 Feet
• Print-Able copy HERE

Cedar Ridge Lake Retreat

A fine fly fisherman's dream retreat. Tucked back into the beautiful Misty Fjords scenery in a location you will have to "find." This is an area that is dotted with tents for camping, docks for your boats and a nice small lodging facility. This is a popular destination and it is highly likely there will be other people enjoying the lakes and surrounding area's various attractions. Do not be surprised in the right season to hear the occasional crack of a hunting Rifle!

The plan is to find yourself a good spot to pitch a tent and set up your campsite, then get to fishing. There is a fine head of recently stocked Arctic Char in the lake, much prized for both their fighting ability and eating quality! A perfect location to take "Bob" out for a walk. "Bob" is a free first person aircraft addon from ORBX that will need to be installed first if you plan on taking a walk around this scenery. See the descriptions of "Bob" and directions found on the FAQ page at Return to Misty Moorings or on the ORBX website.

TreeTop VFR Plan

FROM Ketchikan International Airport (PAKT)
TO: Cedar Ridge Lake Retreat

Our trip begins at Ketchikan International Airport (PAKT), depending upon the wind, use the runway designated then orient yourself flying a heading of about 120 down the starboard side of Tongass Narrows. Watch for other traffic, especially float planes coming up from Ketchikan Harbor.

Ketchikan is five hundred miles north of Seattle. It is known as Alaska's "first city," and as the first port of call for many cruise ships, its historic downtown. You can usually see some at the dock, mostly during summer (tourist) months. As you can see, the city is wedged between water and forested mountains. It becomes saturated in summer with tourists. If you go beyond the souvenir shops near the docks, you will find the rest of the city is built into steep hills and partly propped on wooden pilings, with boardwalks, wooden staircases and totem poles dotted throughout. By 1886, white settlers had opened the first of dozens of canneries in what was soon to be the "salmon capital of the world." You are getting a bird's eye view of Alaska's "First City."

COURSE: Pennock Island splits the Tongass Narrows ahead of us. Fly over Pennock Island and maintain your heading.

After Pennock Island, the little towns of Saxman and Dairy are the communities you see off the port wing. Continue your heading and fly toward the center of Bold Island about 5 miles ahead.

Saxman was named after Professor S. A. Saxman, which has no ties to the newly founded city. In 1917, there were only three houses on the location in what would become modern Saxman. The Saanya Kwan, commonly referred to as Cape Fox People, were living in what was known as Old Indian Town in Ketchikan. Alaska Digital Archives has preserved the photos of Saxman in 1917 in which no Natives had been shown to have lived or were living there. During WW2, the Saanya Kwan were forced to move to move to what would become Saxman by the War Powers Act.

The small island that will pass by the starboard wing (ahead of e Bold Island) is Spire Island. You will notice what look like even smaller islands around it. Actually this all is the same structure, Spire Island Reef. The fishing here is excellent, but there are many shipwrecks at the bottom of that reef ... that's why there is a flashing light on it. It is called the Spire Reef Light. A good waypoint for night flying.

COURSE: Over Bold Island, set a heading of 95.5.

The inlet you see coming up on the port side is the Thorne Inlet. The inlet is about 5 miles deep and dead ends in a beautiful lake-like setting. That's Cone Island at the far shore of the entrance.

The point coming is Point Alava ... a key waymark we recognize in all kinds of weather, it signals the turn to port you must make if you are traveling up the Behm Canal.

COURSE: Turn to port and fly up the Behm Channel, a rough heading of 36 degrees ... altitude 1500 feet to clear Smeaton Island.

We are now flying up the Behm Canal one of the channels in the Alexander Archipelago. This Canal is about 108 miles long, It separates Revillagigedo Island from the mainland. The Behm Canal was named by George Vancouver in 1793, in honor of Magnus von Behm, who was the governor of Kamchatka in 1779 when the Captain James Cook's ships, with Vancouver among the crew, arrived at Petropavlovsk shortly after Cook was killed in Hawaii. It was Behm who carried the news of Cook's death to Europe. Behm Canal is also the home to a United States Navy Submarine sound testing range. That is used to ensure U.S. Submarines are as quiet as they can be.

Rudyard Island is coming up to port. There is a wildlife cabin there. Misty Fiords National Monument has 14 recreation cabins Those near magnificent Rudyard Bay are very popular, and reservations must be made months in advance. There are also 10 trails that take you from saltwater to scenic lakes, most with cabins or free three-sided shelters. Two of the best trails lead up to shelters at Punchbowl and Nooya Lakes which are about 10 ahead at 2 o'clock, but beyond the ridge there.

COURSE: Continue following the Behm Canal. Approximate heading 8-10 degrees. Minimum altitude for Smeaton Island (aheead) is 1500 feet.

The large island coming up is Smeaton Island. There is some excellent hiking and biking trails on this island. Off to starboard about 2 o'clock is the Winstanley Lakes area. There are cabins in that area also. Winstanley Lake is one of the most beautiful settings found in Misty Fjords.

COURSE: After Smeaton Island, you can safely decend 300 feet to observe the New Eddystone Rock.

About 4 miles ahead is one of the most striking features of Misty Fjords. It is called New Eddystone Rock. When you see it the first time from a cruise ship, you wonder if it was man-made or perhaps the relics of an ancient castle. It is actually a pillar of basalt. Sometime during the last 5 million years, the basalt came from fractures in the floor of Behm Canal. The broken, haphazard texture of these basalts indicates that New Eddystone Rock was part of a volcanic vent where magma rose repeatedly to the surface of the earth. When in its molten state, the basalt was very liquid, so that it spread out over a large area, like pancake batter on a griddle. These flows cooled from both the top and the bottom forming the hexagonal columns which are visible on several of the islands surrounding New Eddystone rock. After the basalt flows covered the floor of Behm Canal, another glacial advance scoured away much of the flow, leaving behind New Eddystone Rock and some of the islands to the northeast. Get your camera ready, and image of this is something to take home. It is worth a low pass to see up close.

COURSE: After flying over or past New Eddystone Rock, set a heading of about 345 heading for the point of land on the port side of the Canal, that is Cactus Point. Set altitude at 1200 feet which you can maintain to the landing zone.

COURSE: Beyond Cactus Point on the edge of the shoreline is Manzanita Island. Fly over it. Look ahead to the next point of land on the port side ... that is Skirt Point ... your next waypoint, fly to it.

COURSE: at Skirt Point, set a heading of about 335 to stay long the port shoreline.

COURSE: You will see Grace Cove come up on your left, then you should fly over the little Snip Islands ahead. Fly over the Snip Islands.

COURSE: As you round the point at the Snip Islands, set a course of 313.

COURSE: NOTAM: You have a tricky turn to find coming up in 4.6 miles.

COURSE: Portage Cove comes up on the port side. As you pass it, you will see a small hill. Look about a half mile beyond it at an indentation in the shoreline and a valley. As you approach it, you'll see it is a tiny river. That is the Manzanita River ... you will follow it up to Manzanita Lake. Turn hard to port and follow the river.

COURSE: As you follow the river, it will bend to starboard. Follow it to Manzanita Lake and fly down the lake.

COURSE: As you near the end of the lake, you will turn about 30 degrees to port to follow the valley. You will pass over a couple of very small lakes.

COURSE: You will encounter a Y in the valley, turn to port (left). As you make your turn, you will see you are again over a river. Follow the river as it winds toward your destination.

COURSE: When you can see the river spilling into Cedar Lake ... prepare for decent to the lake surface ... fly 300 feet to the landing zone.

COURSE: As you pass over the shoreline of Cedar Lake, look ahead about 1 mile at 2 o'clock, the Cedar Ridge Lake Retreat is on that shoreline. Land (safely!) accordingly.

Welcome to Cedar Ridge Lake Retreat!

Doug Linn
Charter Manager
Misty Moorings, Inc
contact@mistymoorings.com