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21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Travel
Confronting the Fog

On day 7 we attempted an open-water-crossing from Kuiu to Kupreanof Island in Southeast Alaska. What began placid became a washing machine of churning waves. A fierce wind came howling. The enormous tidal currents argued with the wind and the waves grew steeper. The result was such that turning back would be harder. A simple 45 minute crossing became a battle of physical endurance. My partner disappeared, then reappeared as the waves between us grew larger. They piled down from above and broke over the bow. They lifted then dropped us, and without the stamina to control the kayak and surf back into the trench, we would be flipped and possibly ejected. If that day were a room with 3 walls, the wind was meant to remove us from the room, through that fourth open space and into the Gulf of Alaska where there are no rooms; only waves and peril. Success was a small island, barely visible on the map, where we leapt onto the rocks and hauled our boats from the quaking turmoil. We woke the next morning in a dense fog, and in this photo you see an adventurer creeping into the sleepy sea, confronting the fears of yesterday.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 05.2022
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Alaska, United States of America
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Copyright: © Thor Lindstam