Ideal Cove, Petersburg
Early morning found the National Geographic Sea Bird nearing the southern end of Frederick Sound, which we had entered sometime during the night. There had been a change in the weather during our transit, and the morning was overcast, with the possibility of some rain, more typical for Southeast Alaska than the sunny conditions we had experienced for most of our voyage.
Just before breakfast the National Geographic Sea Bird reached her anchorage at Ideal Cove. This area has a network of trails through beautiful rainforest, around several lakes, much of which is narrow boardwalk, sometimes covered with old fishing nets for traction. It would be an early landing this morning, because we needed to get to Petersburg right at the end of lunch. So at 8:00 hikers started going ashore – first the long aerobic, then the kid’s, then moderate, and finally the short hikers.
First the kids returned, their Zodiac driving class awaited them, and they weren’t going to miss that activity! The screams of delight echoed all through the forest and cove. Needless to say, a fun time was had by all! Finally, the rest of the hikers returned to the beach, a little damp from the exercise and the light rain that had started to fall during the morning.
It was then time to head back to the ship, set sail for Petersburg, and hear a wonderful talk about humpback whale research from Andy Szabo of the Alaska Whale Foundation. All this before lunch!
As lunch ended the National Geographic Sea Bird pulled up to the dock, surrounded by a large variety of commercial fishing boats and private craft. First the guests doing the scenic flight left for their adventure, and then everyone else disembarked for their selected afternoon activities, whether it was exploring town, bike riding, photography, admiring the fishing fleet, or walking to the Petersburg bog.
By 6:30p.m. everyone was back onboard and the National Geographic Sea Bird departed the dock on its way toward more adventures tomorrow. Did I mention that it was Dungeness crab night and time for the preview of the video chronicle of our voyage?
