Where do I start? Do I tell about the land mammals (bears, black and brown,) the sea mammals (Orca and Humpback whales, sea lions, sea otters), the fishing (both Halibut and Coho Salmon), the scenery (mountains, water, tide, or snow pack), the glaciers (many), the many waterfalls, the forests (some designated as National Wilderness), the boat, the food, kayakers, other boats, or the weather? It isquite a list and maybe it is best to tell what we saw as the seven days progressed. So here goes and with a little luck and some condensing of the days, the story should be completed in a few days or less.
THE HERON
`Day 1 It was moving from the hotel (The Scandia House) in Petersburg where we had flown from Anchorage the day before, to the boat pier and carrying our luggage to the “Heron” our home for the 7 nights. (Petersburg, it might be noted is north of Ketchikan and south of Juneau on the SE Panhandle of Alaska.) We met the crew ...Daniel the recently discharged Israeli army young man who was the second mate and asst. cook,; Aria the able cook and 1st mate on this trip. Daniel would take her place for a few weeks as she attended two weddings in Washington in the next time frame. We were familiar with the boat having sailed with her on two previous occasions so brief rules and regs. were described by the Captain ,Scott Hursey. He especially brought our attention to the use of the to
ilet as it works on a vacuum procedure and can get clogged if not worked properly (We ended the week without a mishap.) Scott also commented that “Where was the rest of your luggage?” We had only 5 bags among 4 of us.
We got under way immediately heading northwest, on an overcast sky and a light, rain steeped morning (9:30 AM), and headed up Frederick Sound toward the first moorage for the night. Along the way on the first day it was the number of BALD EAGLES that we saw that caught our eyes. There were dozens of them and probably one every 1/4 to 1/2 mile or so. Many roosting in tall trees as they spend 80% of their days just resting,. Scott pointed out a mother Black bear and a cub on the shore and we lingered there for a bit watching her nibbling the barnacles and other goodies on the tidal rocks. N.B.; IT must be noted that Scott is a master at many things, but spotting wildlife while on the move in the boat is one of his best. I do not think he ever missed an animal as we move throughout the week. We did see some HUMPBACK WHALES spouting but never caught up with them. Until we reached the “Five Fingers Islands” where two Humpbacks were breaching and we lingered with them for about one hour. What a
BALD EAGLE
sight to see 30 tons leap out of the water and comedown with a huge splash over and over again. After a dinner of chi
cken marinated with olives, tomatoes and mushrooms, along with multigrain bread, green beans, and wild rice we ended with a slice of fresh carrot cake that had been wafting through the boat most of the day. As we were about ready to retire for the night, three ORCA WHALES moved through the dim light of the anchorage but we saw only their splashes and then they disappeared. (More of these later)
JIm kept a list of birds seen, although species were limited to 20-25, the numbers were voluminous of some species. More on those later, too. It was a good start to the week. We anchored in Port Houghton, a large bay, for the first night.
Day 2.
Each morning I tried to wake at about 5:30 to watch for wildlife, and although we were well south of Anchorage (and Juneau) there was plenty of light at 4:30, so by 5:30 the light was sufficient to see clearly. The first morning I saw the daily Eagles (Bald), Common Murres and some Mew Gulls. Breakfast at 7:00-7:30 each morning was usually a simple meal with cereal, yogurt, fruit and coffee or tea. One morning we had scrambled eggs and toast. (This was all our choice as they asked us our food list before the trip.) Then it was moving quickly to a salmon mode for fishing. Scott had us in between tides so we got the gear ready to fish. . Trolling with lines out affixed with lures was the method. Andy and I hit on 4 salmon right away and we began to fill the box for sending back home. These were Coho salmon and averaged about 12 pounds each. (27” or so). The first one was #20. That day we caught 9 fish in all. This was a good start as we paid the $35.00 to fish all week for Salmon and Halibut.- Lunch was veggie soup (with lots of veggies) . Afternoon it was WHALE watching as we saw some as close as 100 feet from the boat and then 3 of them surfaced with in 15 feet of the boat, looked up at us and then did the same thing on the other side, That was unbelievable. So close and there is so much intelligence in those creature’s huge bodies. Everyone was understandably excited at that rare sight. Later we did see sea lions and 30 Harbor seals on a small rock outcropping as we moved north. We stayed that night at Sanford arm just off Stephens Passage in a small bay. Supper was some of the salmon we had caught that day. Topped with pesto and dried tomato sauce. YUM.
HUMBACK WHALE NEAR BOAT
Day 3
As we moved into Endicott Arm from Stephens Passage, (Our farthest north leg of the trip) we began to see icebergs that came from the Endicott GLACIER some 30 miles up the Arm. We watched a mother BEAR (Black) and her two cubs eating grass along the shore at one point. The dynamics of old glaciation begin to show as we move from the forested western end of the 30 mile fjord toward the glacier. Gradually the trees give way to rocks and large scoured boulders and whole mountainsides that no longer have living plants on them, but only the striation marks of the glaciers that thousands of years ago made this fjord. The bare rock mountains continue right up to the glacier itself. All the while Scott is maneuvering the boat around the large icebergs (wooden hull), as we get ever closer to this massive 200 foot front of ice. IT is about 3/4 mile across. Occasionally a few pieces of ice fall into the water with a splash. Many gulls work the waters for food from the up welling caused by the calving ice. I saw a large, dark bird chasing the gulls for food. I thought it might be a sea bird,, but later Scott stated he thought more likely a Jaeger (Pomerine). I believe he was right after examining the features closely. He chased those gulls for 20 minutes.
THEN! an excited shout from Jim went out as we heard “WOW! There she goes” as a huge piece of the glacier fell onto a cove and crashed so hard it created a second wave off the wall of the glacier cove. A few minutes later we felt the waves under us and the boat. Every few minutes now the glacier calved and dropped huge pieces of ice into the Arm, each pnefalling the 200 feet before it hit the water, We recorded many of them both on camera pictures and in video format. (Check with that later) It was an awesome sight and won’t be forgotten soon. A glacier remaining from the ice age! Scott made his way carefully out of the face of the Glacier after about 2 1/2 hours of viewing. We could not get enough, even though the temperature of the water was about 40 F and the air somewhat warmer. The glacier is about 200 feet high at the water and 4 X that amount is under the water. The fjord at times is well over 1,000 feet deep. The glacier has retreated some 1/2 mile since Scott was last here 9 years ago.
The anchorage that night was at North Dawes Bay on the north side of Endicott arm, which has 5 WATERFALLS coming down within a 1/4 mile of the anchorage. Some are swift and filled with water and as it had rained that day all day , they were filled with gushing water. Some were many thousands of feet high , reaching up into the high mountains.-- Supper was shis-ka-bob with
COHO SALMON CATCH
shrimp. It was another peaceful night! Days 4-7 coming up.
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