Early this morning, National Geographic Sea Lion continued her journey into Frederick Sound, making a slight turn into Thomas Bay which was our morning destination. The sound of a raging river could be heard as Zodiacs made their way into shore and the entrance to a National Forest Service semi-maintained trail made up of a “plank walk.” Leaving the beach we made our way up the Cascade Creek Trail, into the forest along a very full stream...which led to a enormous, raging waterfall.
The early morning sunlight had just crested the hill to the east of the waterfall, filling the area around the base of the waterfall with sunlight reflected off millions of particles of mist. The tall spruce and hemlock created long shadows slicing through a wonderland of backlit shrubs, trees, and tall grasses. All were decorated in droplets of mist, sparkling in the morning sun like the tiniest gems shifting in the soft wind created by the roaring waterfall in the background and still in early morning shadow.
Our group was divided into several walking groups. A small group stayed in the lowlands, wandering slowly while photographing all the nuances of a forest wearing a veil created by one of Alaska’s many waterfalls. The medium and long hikers continued past the waterfall up a steep slope using log steps to the forest above, then crossed a bridge over Cascade Creek, still very full of melt water and roaring down an extremely narrow canyon. Some continued on through boot-sucking mud and gained higher elevation in the time allowed for the morning hike. All aboard time was 11:00 a.m. and soon thereafter the anchor was lifted and Sea Lion continued back into Frederick Sound and headed slightly north towards the fishing community of Petersburg Alaska.
Peter Buschmann, an American of Norwegian descent, settled and founded this town in 1897. He, along with the first settlers, were drawn here by the abundant fishery, a fine harbor and an endless supply of ice from nearby LeConte Glacier. This enormous glacier was perfect for preserving the enormous catch of fish in the days before large refrigeration was available in this area. Mr. Buschmann carried out quite a campaign to bring many others from the Norwegian-American community in Seattle to Alaska. Petersburg still holds strongly to its Scandinavian heritage and traditions and a quick wander through town made this abundantly clear. Even more interesting and enjoyable was being in a working community, not just a Southeast Alaskan tourist town! The harbor was filled with fishing boats and today in particular there were a lot of empty slips. We were arriving during the height of salmon season. About 100 million pounds of seafood are processed annually. During quick walk from Sea Lion into town, the air was filled with the aroma of cooking fish! The docks were filled with activity from net mending to painting to many a fisherman carrying supplies to restock their fishing boats.
Our afternoon was spent exploring this friendly and open community. We were greeted warmly by the townspeople, who asked questions just as we did in return. In this remote corner of the Tongass Forest, in a fine harbor, approximately 3,000 inhabitants co-exist, working, playing and obviously enjoying their choice to live at the edge of the sea, taking and giving back to the waters and forests they happily call home.
