Southeast Alaska is known for it magical, mystical, gray cloudiness and rain….and then there are the days of bright sunshine and glorious color. Today was one of the latter: a day of clear blue skies, deep green forests as well as the bright colors of the Norwegian-esque fishing town of Petersburg. In addition to the spectacular weather, it is springtime here in Southeast.
Early morning found National Geographic Sea Lion entering Thomas Bay, made famous in the stories recorded by Harry Colp and later published by his daughter, Virginia, “The Strangest Story Ever Told.” Harry tells the tale of a series of prospectors in the early 19th century, including himself, who went into this area searching for gold and found only half-human and half-monkey “devils” and insanity. In spite of the glorious early light on the mist of Cascade Creek falls and wonderful hikes, many of us spent a portion of the morning looking over our shoulders in fear of an attack by the monkey-men devils.
During lunch our captain skillfully docked Sea Lion among all the fishing boats deep in the Petersburg marina. A variety of options awaited us for the afternoon and included bicycle riding in town, photo walks, dock walks and a bog walk on Kupreanof Island, across Wrangell Narrows from town. Springtime flowers greeted the bog walkers along the forest path and into the muskeg, the Alaskan name for bog.
