Thursday | June 16

Red Bluff Bay

Snorkeling Expedition and Cruising for Marine Mammals

An early morning scout in a small boat to the entrance to Red Bluff proves fruitful.  I find two excellent sites to lead my group of snorkelers.  What I look for in a site is an area where tremendous amounts of water cycles by during the ebb and flow of tide-waters.  This is found at the entrance to bays and headlands in larger channels.  One of the exposed rocky reefs is covered with the scrotum-like bodies of bright orange sea anemones.

Back in the ship I help the snorkelers get into their 6 mm wetsuits and ask them to carry boots, gloves, hood, snorkel, mask and fins into the waiting mono-hull. We head to the outside of the bay and land on a Caribbean-like small, white-sand beach! Starfish (not really fish, better to call them sea stars!) are everywhere, exposed by an extremely low tide.

I lead everyone across a small bay through thick kelp forests of Laminaria and Nereocystis to more sheer walls of intertidal goodness.  Every square inch is covered with moving and attached creatures vying for a niche in these biologically productive waters.  I’d have to say, of all the scuba diving and snorkeling I’ve the years in Alaska, this day has to top them all for pure fun.

On our way back to the ship, I ask our driver Jen to pull over toward the shore (where a patch of snow comes down close to waters edge) for a group photo.  Yes, we are all certifiably crazy.

We feel hypo-thermic and take the opportunity to become hyper-thermic in one of our two hot tubs at the stern of the 300-level deck.  Oh, the tingling sensations of capillary re-fill were numbing.

In the afternoon, we enjoy spotting several humpback whales, two of them “logging” at the surface for a mid-day nap.

Dozens of Steller’s Sea Lions swim toward our ship from a haul-out site on the Brothers Islands.  They are very playful and curious and we excited to snap a few pictures of these animals that are Federally listed as “threatened” with extinction.

Wednesday | June 15

Patterson Bay &  Baranof Island

Everybody onboard is excited and express how their vacation has far exceeded their expectations.

Today is a fabulous day for a kayak, and I have the privilege of leading a small group.  There is so much to see and so much to explore in this pristine wilderness area on South Baranof Island.

 

Following are a few notes jotted-down in my “rite-in-the-rain” waterproof journal:  “During the last mile or so of my kayak I was pondering how it is possible that each and every day seems to top the last day in terms of excitement.  I have often heard folks say that they don’t understand how we can possibly have a better day than the day we just had, and yet, invariably, it happens…day, after day, after day.”

“Undoubtedly, each day brings newness and surprises.  Due to the small size of the ship and our collective enthusiasm for being where we are, we have ample opportunities to get to know our fellow travelers.  Stories are swapped in the lounge, at the dinner table, in the hot tubs or out on the viewing decks.  Everybody seems to be relaxed, in a mood for a great time and certainly not caught up with appearances.  Preconceived ideas are dropped from our minds and we allow ourselves to get lost in each and every moment”

“After a certain amount of time hanging-out and getting to know each other, it seems as if we all become exposed to some kind of magic potion that gives us the capacity to be more receptive to the beauty and the power of the place that surrounds us.”

“Certainly we forget unimportant things like what day of the week it is, have little interest in current events in the world and have little time to think about what the boss back home might be thinking.  We let go of all worrisome, nagging doubts and become connected to something greater.  Is it possible that we are absolutely “in the present”?  Have we all arrived at the state-of-being where all that matters is the here and now? I am certain that a significant transformation takes place.”

Tuesday | June 14

Big Port Walter & Baranof Island

Today I have the pleasure of leading a half-day hike in the dazzling rainforest at Lover’s Cove in Big Port Walter.

Check out the video below:

Most of the hike is bush-whacking through 5 to 10-foot tall salmon-berry shrubs.  Huge sitka spruce and western hemlock trees towered above us.  Rows of large trees grow on fallen nurse logs as we follow a meandering salmon stream.  

We find fresh bear scat full of teeth and hooves of a sitka black-tailed deer.

People are in a Zen-like state of awe.  While snacking, I address our group of intrepid travelers and say:  “This is it folks…the way the rest of the world used to be.  Prime salmon spawning habitat beneath surrounds us on all sides.  Streams in California used to be chock-full of salmon with grizzly bears feeding on them.  Now the streams are mostly empty and degraded.  The last brown bear in California was shot in 1924.  Extirpated…extinct.”

We have time for a group photo in front of a fallen giant and head back to the shore where a waiting small boat takes us back to the comforts of the “mother ship”.

Tonight we cruise a couple of dozen nautical miles to the north in Chatham Strait to another beautiful fiord.  Guests and crew come out on the decks for the ever-changing scenery and a chance to see wildlife.

The lighting, coupled with the fresh smells and the sounds of waterfalls cascading down the cliffs is very stimulating.  The gentle hum of the engine cruising at 4 to 5-knots is rather soothing.  Coming into a bay or fiord for the first time is sublime.  So new, so fresh…the water looks like oil, especially the reflections of sky and clouds.  The smallest waves create oblong circles reflecting blue sky and streams by like a moving Monet painting.

The songs of the crepuscular animals—the thrushes–serenade us as we move deeper into Patterson Bay to our anchorage.

Monday | June 13

Good birding day in town as we explore totem park and carving shed.  Some of the bird friends we saw and heard in the small town town today:  barn swallow, violet-green swallow, orange-crowned warbler, song sparrow, pine siskin, red crossbill, mourning dove, and lots of eagles and ravens.

Sidney, the young teenager niece of Les our guide leads an informative tour along with James the wood-carver.  We hear a lot of “learning by doing” from lead guide Les.  Les is very animated and says that a Tlingit speaker that has his hands tied behind his back does not have the ability to speak since they like to do so using their hands.

Saturday | June 11th

The Voyage North from Ketchikan to Juneau begins at 4 p.m. with a new group of very energetic guests.  After settling into cabins, attending “welcome aboard” orientation meetings in the lounge and eating dinner, we are all astonished by a sunset that lasts for almost an hour.  What a way to begin a vacation!  The water is absolutely mesmerizing and hundreds, if not thousands of pictures are digitally etched on memory cards.

 

 

 

 

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