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Pair the book with:

• Top 5 Destinations
• Resurrection Bay
• Day Harbor
• Aialik Bay (KFNP)
• Northwestern Fjord
• Nuka Island

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Investigate Day Harbor's breathtaking seacoast with its idyllic coves and bays. Equip yourself with important Day Harbor maps and local information on Driftwood Bay and Safety Cove State Marine Parks, vessel anchorages, kayaker campsites areas, local history, and special places to visit.

In 1787, Captain Portlock marked a 2.5-nm wide indention on his chart and named the mountainous fjord Day's Harbor. Today, the harbor is a backyard destination for mariners escaping the vessel traffic in Resurrection Bay or for those seeking shelter when foul weather slams Blying Sound. Spectacular Resurrection Peninsula forms the craggy western shore of the harbor. Two NW-facing coves - Anchor Cove and Bowen Anchorage - lie along the harbor's eastern shoreline and provide secure anchorages for small boats during gulf storms.

Davidson Point (right) is the bold rock headland standing at the mouth of Driftwood Bay State Marine Park. The Driftwood Bay is a good summer anchorage and wonderful place to beach comb, but the bay should be avoided during strong east or southeast weather. Scores of waterfalls cascade down the bay's towering cliffs in wet weather. The summer salmon fishing is especially productive around Davidson Point which often is packed with boats trolling at the mouth of Driftwood Bay. Additional beach camping with a secure anchorage is available a few miles to the north in Safety Cove State Marine Park.

Bootleg Cove (left) and lagoon are rarely visited jewels in Upper Day Harbor. The cove and lagoon are on the harbor's western shore, so mild gulf weather is necessary to explore the area. Bootleg Cove is a tiny indention, narrow and rocky, but gifted with an ideal sandy haul out beach for kayaks and inflatables at the head. Skiffs can anchor but avoid periods of low water. Vessels can drop anchor just outside the cove if conditions are good.

Adjacent to Bootleg Cove is Bootleg Lagoon, about 40 acres in size. The lagoon is secluded place to observe waterfowl including merganser and goldeneye ducks. In fall, river otters, eagles and black bears are abundant when schools of chum salmon return to the lagoon to spawn.

Ellsworth Glacier (right) dominates the low, wooded valley at the head of Day Harbor. This land-based glacier sits more than from tidewater. Grant and Higgins reported in 1909, that Ellsworth Glacier rested one-quarter mile from tidewater with a young spruce forest reclaiming the abandoned moraine. In the past century, not only has Ellsworth Glacier continued its steady retreat up the valley floor, but also the glacier's surface elevation and thickness have considerably diminished. A large iceberg filled lake rests on the valley floor adjacent to the glacier's icy terminus.