Chichagof Island, Sitkoh Bay and Redcliff
Pale gray strips of low-slung clouds were interwoven amongst the treetops of Chichagof Island. The mood for the morning was more mysterious than sullen. A brilliant yellow band of exposed rockweed added a punctuation of color. Along the shoreline, peacefully munching amongst the sedges, a coffee-colored bear was sighted. We watched in hushed silence.
Continuing north in Chatham Strait, we paused again for more bears. As we peered closer, they spontaneously multiplied. First it was a sow with one cub, no, wait, two cubs, and as the adorable fur balls continued to romp through the tall beach grass, ultimately we found there were three cubs. Hushed once again, we watched this brown bear sow with her three cubs. The three were born this year while the sow dozed in her winter den. It will take about two and a half years for her to teach her progeny the intricacies of how to be a successful brown bear.
Paddling around in kayaks at Redcliff Island gave us the chance to quietly float around the bay with the incoming tide, or to exuberantly challenge ourselves (and maybe our siblings) with an aerobic splashing race. Others meandered through the forest, which seemed to be padded in a multitude of shades and textures of verdant green mosses. It served as an acoustical buffer, absorbing and dampening the intruding noises accompanied with our explorations.
In contrast to the greens of the forest were the rainbows undersea. Carlos dove in the bay while we explored the surface. Underwater he found a vibrant palette of colors. Splashed wildly about in the forms of sea stars, wide-eyed fish, sea slugs and anemones were fluorescent pinks, wild oranges, screaming purples and seductive reds.
With sunset came cheesecake and humpback whales. Near Point Augusta were a number of whales exhaling, swimming, periodically slapping their pectoral fins and randomly bursting from the water with an exuberant breach. It was a lovely exclamation point for the end of our day.
