Today ,(Sat August 16m 2011), we moved from Kluane Lake to Teslin Yukon. The morning was cold (42F) and there was "termination dust" on the mountains as it snowed above 6,000 the night before. There were some 40 sheep on the mountains below the snow. We also saw a Grizzly bear on the roadside. It was moving fast but got a few shots. The road today was much better than yesterday when we averaged some 25 mph the 230 miles from Tok. (many frost heaves) Today the average was above 40 mph. Also seen were many horses for the backpacking business near Haines Junction and a large group of mule deer along side the road. Beautiful Takhini Valley was in view for hours. Crossed the Yukon River and saw Lake LaBarge (Robert Service fame) , Marsh Lake and Teslin Lake which is 73 miles in length stretching across the USA/ CA border. OH...crossing the border yesterday was a breeze. Just smiled and went through HA!
NOW FOR SOME MORE DAYS ON THE "HERON"
Day 4 and 5 on the Heron (SE Alaska Inland Passage)
Coming out of North Dawes Bay the waterfalls were much subdued n the morning as the rain had stopped and they held less water, but still were a remarkable view from the boat. Scott headed into Endicott Arm again as we looked for bears and dodged icebergs . We did watch a mother bear (Black) and her cub for about 30 minutes and then proceeded to Stephens Passage once again. The day was less gray, but there was some ran in the air. A second short cove had lots of Eagles and Canadian Geese (an experimental Project locally), but still no brown bear that Scott anticipated. We now were out of the rock mountains and into forested areas once again . After a lunch of chicken roll ups, we headed for Woods Spit at the entrance to Stephens Passage and a walk on the beach (rocky shoreline) . Here after a zodiac ride to the shore we got our land legs going for the first time in 4 days, and started to “comb” the beach for whatever we could find. A nesting Lincoln’s sparrow caught both Daniel’s and my eye and he got some good shots of that with her young just fledged. Gerri looked for rocks for her garden (They go back to MI in our trailer, and we have a standing joke that she pays by the pound!). Ruth stayed on board as the rock walking would have been difficult. The tide was not low so water was about in the middle of the beach. I spotted two flocks of Harlequins and Oyster Catchers (about 25 in each) and pursued a few pictures of them away from where we walked. It was a bright afternoon so walking was easy. There was lots of kelp and sea weed on the beach, shells, and especially sea urchins. The water was calm so seeing through the water to the rocks was “cool”.
After about 1 1/2 hours we returned to the Heron where Scott found that the hoist to the Zodiac did not work so he tied it (at least temporarily) to the back of the boat. This lasted one more day. We headed for Admiralty Island a National Monument set aside entirely for wildlife and wildlife viewing along with the mountains, lakes and streams. The sun came out which felt good as it had not up to this point on the trip. We headed for a small cove on Gambier Bay between few islands. Even though it faces the open waters of Stephens Passage it is protected most of the time by the islands .Scott calls this cove “The Screaming Kayakers Cove” He told us the story of the kayakers who were camped here one time when they anchored here and the woman came out to chastise him when he anchored there, for interrupting their “wilderness experience” in no uncertain terms. Scott explained to the woman that it was ALL a wilderness experience and that she was welcome to go some other place to have her “wilderness experience”. In the morning she came back out, in her kayak, and asked him if she had been “too aggressive” the night before??? Scott had many more stories some funny and some sad that I will work in along the way.
Day 5 on the Heron (SE Alaska Inland Passage)
HALIBUT---WHALES---BROWN BEAR--SUNSHINE---FISH DINNER
Yes it was a “whale” of a day. (Couldn't let that pass). After breakfast we left “Screaming Kayaker Cove” and headed out of Gambier Bay entered Stephens Passage . Scott was heading toward Halibut waters. * As Halibut usually feed on ledges in the ocean bottom, Scott looks for some likely places that they would do that. After 30 years in these waters he knows many of them. On the way to that spot, we saw 20-25 Humpback whales some of them breaching (jumping out of the water and creating a huge splash which some interpret as pure joy and fun for the whales) and some with young ones in their first trip to Alaska from Hawaii their “birth state”. The young ones stay close to Mom for sure. The seas were rough out on the open waters and the boat rocked or the first time on the trip. Setting the downline and with hooks baited with herring, Andy caught the first one in a short time. It was raining with a stiff wind. Soon after that we moved to the west side of Grove Island and got out of the wind between the islands. This was followed by an anchorage at Cannery Cove , a rare piece of private land left from an old Cannery earlier in the 20th century takes up a portion of the cove. It is now a fishing resort run by a man that has had some run ins with the law in Alaska. We anchored there, however away from the Lodge. Immediately Scott spotted some bears in the grassy area at the end of the cove. THIS GUY IS GOOD! It was a Sow and her 3 cubs , a rare sight indeed, We followed them and behold more Brown bears come out and we were able to see 4 bears and the sow and cubs. Quite a sight as they grazed on grass and worked a small salmon stream that came out into the Cove. Remember that the salmon are running now until the fall so the Bears must fatten up for the winter . It is a great salmon year in Alaska, so they should all get enough nourishment especially those that feed on fish. The rain stopped. For supper we had stuffed Halibut as the main dish. Daniel taught us a card game from Israel called “Kaboo”. which is played with all dealt cards down. Then it gets complicated to find the cards. Fun!
A great day for and more to come tomorrow.
Another of Scott’s stories almost ended in tragedy at Endicott Glacier. A couple (man and woman) had beached the skiff on the rocks near the glacier (too close?) so that they might get some videos for a company. They had walked up the rocks to get a better few so were away from the skiff. A huge piece of the glacier calved and when it hit the water it made a huge wave heading for the rock outcropping. The man saw it coming and made a choice. 1. Go up to higher ground to escape, or 2. Try to get the skiff before the wave hit. He AND HIS WIFE chose the latter and they got to the skiff at the same time the wave hit which threw them into the icy water (40 F) and he lost the skiff , but saved a sealed, equipment box. Now they were both in trouble as they did made it back to the rocks but were suffering from hypothermia. Unfortunately there was a boat nearby that didn’t see that happen, but as the man was able to retrieve and fire off a flare from the box, the boat saw it and came to their rescue. The woman suffered for awhile but recovered. Moral: know you limits and stow your skiff adequately. Cold water can kill you.
Day 6 and 7 On the Heron (SE Alaska INland Passage)
Early in the morning we continued to see the Brown bears eating at the head of the cove where we anchored (Cannery Cove). Bald Eagles were around as well and as usual as they are part and partial of this SE Alaska. Three kayakers came from that Lodge I mentioned, and beached their kayaks and walked toward where the bears were feeding (Remember a Sow with three cubs is not to be messed with). The Kayakers started to walk toward the bears and after about 100 yards stopped to talk, and that was as far as they went after seeing the bears they wisely went back to their kayaks and headed back to the Lodge. Scott had us weigh anchor and headed for Halibut fishing as the tides were right (slack tide) for fishing Halibut. Scott moved to a favorite place between two islands. Hooks attached, downlines secured and Andy caught one, then I did. Now we got the ladies into it and Ruth and Gerri both caught one. Gerri also caugt three small crabs at once, and Andy caught two Sculpin. We now had enough to ship home for winter dinners. They were all under 38” in length as that is the South East (zone) size limit this year. Only one per day can be caught and a limit of three total.
Among a kelp bed we saw some sea otter. That is one of their favorite hangouts as there is plenty of food there. Scott cleaned the fish before lunch and stored them in ice for keeping. Ruth had a big smile on her face when she caught hers. I’ll try to put that picture in. Later we fished for, and caught, two salmon (Coho) both Gerri and me .
Scott headed for Kake, a small and historic (ancient) village that has a creek with bears by a salmon hatchery . After anchoring and taking the zodiac to the pier, we walked the 3/4 mile to the hatchery and sure enough, there were black bears all over the place. Sows with cubs, many by themselves and many getting fish at will out of Gunnuk Creek. The fishery there has built a visitor Center, a fine,safe boardwalk with a railing along the north side of the creek for viewing. Ruth watched one bear walk down a paved walkway right next to her while she was sitting on a bench. It was quite an awesome spot and the bald eagles habited the same spot in a tree viewing food as well. It is is a “NO FISHING” stream so the bears have free reign. On the walk back to the pier and the zodiac, I saw a flock (200) of Black Bellied Plovers fly by a few times and many Bald Eagles flew over our heads. The sun was shining. Dinner was the Halibut we caught cooked with Julie’s (Hursey) recipe under a sour cream sauce. MMMMMmmm. * {One secret to Halibut cooking is the take it out just before it is finished as it cooks a bit longer in it’s one juice.} We anchored in the Keku Islands in the Keku Straits. The cove there was situated so we could look east and west . The sunset was a beautiful one with ever changing colors and in the middle of it there was a rainbow on the brilliant white/cream clouds reflecting the sun in the east. What a fantastic day!
Day 7 on the Heron
This was the last full day at sea on the Heron and we still wanted to add to the salmon catch. We did catch one but it was a “pink” so released it. We caught nothing so proceeded to look for more whales. Scott had his microphone in the water to listen for their calls and he did hear what he said were “bubble feeding” calls . There were whales across the Sound , so we headed that way. It seemed to be a long way to pick up the calls but we saw none so returned to the galley to have some hot chocolate to warm up. Scott kept trying to find them and perhaps it was the same group as we approached some 45 minutes later it was obvious that we were seeing the whales BUBBLENET FEEDING near Cape Fanshaw. Here there is a ledge that goes out some 1/2 mile into the Sound and they were working this area for schools of herring back and forth from the point of the Cape to some distance out in the Sound and back. The herring were plentiful and the whales were feasting on them.
Here was a group of 8-10 of them surfacing, getting air and then,while one heads down to create the bubbles around the herring the others wait a bit and then dive under the “net” and come up in the middle gathering the herring as they refuse to go outside the “net. The herring do not go beyond the bubble barrier. When they surface the Humpback whales all come up at the same time with their mouths open and their baleen exposed to see. (see picture). A humpback whale opens its mouth some 15 feet or so from lower jaw to upper lip. It is a glorious display of 500 tons of creatures coordinating in order to survive. What a display. We watched them for fully 2 hours as the surfaced time after time .One surfacing was so close to the boat that we could have jumped onto their backs (wouldn’t do it!) from the boat. Scott did get some pictures of that one as he was the closest. So beautiful! At one point there were 12-14 of them and then they divided into two groups and “voila” we saw TWO pods of them BUBBLENET FEEDING at the same time on the surface. That really surprised us as no one got a picture of that!. Total numbers changed as some more whales came and others departed (Is there a pecking order in whales?...Probably). We stayed near them until we had our fill and came inside to warm up again as it was a cold wind on the seas.
We had a halibut paste and cracker snack with Pb and J sandwiches with fresh green peppers. That evening we anchored on Farragut Bay and had a supper of Coho salmon pasta, green beans and brownies a la mode (Tillamook ice cream). No pretty sunset tonight, but what a day!
One more day to post.
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