LAst Day on the Heron (Day 8) Mon. Aug 2, 2011

These were the last pictures we took in regard to the Petersburg, Inland Passage Cruise. Some were on the plane flying back to Anchorage and we were fortunate and quick enough to get a few good shots. Mendenhall Glacier is directly opposite the campus of the U of A (Juneau), Herbert Glacier is a bit inland but near Juneau (north) , The "Thumb" is a excellent marker for ships at sea as it is almost due east of Petersburg. (We will see this when we get to Telegraph Creek this week from the other side.) And for your watching enjoyment, the crew of the "Heron" who treated us royally and made us feel like it was our home for a week. Hope you enjoyed this tour with us. I would like to hear any comments you might make even on e- mail.- Jim

Mt. Thumb, Canada/USA (AK) border marker.

Coastal Mtns. Downtown Petersburg ,AK Mendenhall Glacier (Juneau) Coastal Mtn.

Orcas moving in pods

Last day on the Heron (Day 8) Monday August 2, 2011

It would be very difficult to top any of the sights or sounds that we have been privileged to witness this week. But maybe this day had another gift to present? It was very foggy as we left Farragut Bay, but the clouds lifted by 9:30 as we headed out to Frederick Sound and headed in the direction of Petersburg (southeast). We had to be in port about the time the tide was still low and ideally at slack tide. Scott thought he spotted some whales and sure enough he did. But this time it was not the Humpbacks but the ORCAS. He had been told on the radio that they were headed north so thought

SCOTT, DANIEL, ARIA

we would miss them, but they were heading south and moving fast. They move much faster than the Humpbacks do. These weigh in at the 10-15 ton size.There they were with those tell tale fins protruding up in the water as they “bob” along up and down with brief surfacing time to breathe. There were pods of three, some single, and more pods of 5-6 catching up with us as we moved south. This was the surprise and we relished in seeing them as it was quite unusual to see so many at once. We did linger as they moved ahead of us and we returned to head for Port. It was a fitting ending to the cruise as we had pretty much ‘seen it all’. We had seen the sea at various moods, rain and sun, tidal zones on the rocks, glaciers, bears of all sorts and sizes, whales, bubble-net feeding, sunsets, rainbows, sea otters, seals, eagles, lots of birds, waterfalls, mountains, successful fishing and good food. It was glorious!

Aria and Daniel got the boat ready to dock with their chores (bumpers, lines, etc) and we finally docked at very low tide. We said our goodbyes and took a few last pictures while David was there to pick us up to shuttle us to the hotel Scandia right on the money. Scott took our fish to the Cannery where we would make arrangements to ship later that day. We did a walking “tour” of this small town , and did some shopping and exploring. We had an extra treat as Julie and Scott Hursey agreed to come to dinner with us where we reminisced about the trip and other trips we had and Scott’s stories that she found that he had related on the trip. Julie works at the hospital now and continues her Am show on NPR in OPetersburg . Could we ask for anymore than we received. No. We are grateful for all that we received. Deo Gratias