The coastline along the west of Baranof Island is rugged and forbidding. The overcast day made it more so.

According to the Coast Pilot "Klag Bay, at the head of Khaz Bay, is cluttered with islands, and the shores are foul especially on the E side behind the islands in the bay. The two entrances to the bay lead through narrow crooked channels, with foul shores and strong currents, which are difficult except for small vessels at slack water. Strangers should enter at low water slack when the dangers will show above water or be indicated by kelp." Chart 17322 shows the area, with an inset for the entry to Klag Bay.

While the anchorage wasn't overly difficult to enter, the combination of tidal currents and a narrow entry channel did require some care. We approached through the southern entrance to Klag Bay, called The Gate. Day mark "1" is visible on the left, with the range markers ahead. You might wonder why we chose this anchorage after our 5-day run, with easier ones nearby. We wanted an interesting stop after the long run, and we just weren't feeling that tired. We didn't feel it would make be any different entering Klag Bay that afternoon or three days later.

We'd had a good run up, but it was nice to drop anchor and relax out on the back deck. Shutting the engines down after five days of continuous running felt a little strange though.

Soon after we'd dropped anchor, a well-rigged SeaSport, Little Princess, approached. On board were Tom and his son-in-law Tom. They accidentally had only decaf coffee aboard and were wondering if they could offer anything in trade for some real coffee. We answered "fresh fish," and received a big piece of fresh cod for our dinner. This was a welcome surprise, as we weren't planning to do any fishing or even catch crab on this trip, mainly because time was limited. The senior Tom asked if we were fishing. When we said no, he looked at us both carefully and said, "How come you don’t fish? You look intelligent."

We slept soundly that night, and the next morning went ashore to explore the ruins. When the mine shut down, much of the buildings and equipment were abandoned in place. Many of the buildings had since fallen down, but a number were still standing, and equipment was scattered everywhere.

The Alaska Digital Archives has several photographs of the mining town of Chichagof strung along the shore at Klag Bay and various aspects of the mining operation. Mining took place between 1905 and 1942, producing 660,000 ounces of gold and 195,000 ounces of silver. Shafts and passages extend underground 4,800 feet horizontally, 4,300 feet vertically, and 2,750 feet below sea level.¹