Sitkoh Bay & Chatham Strait
Cardboard cutouts of picture perfect mountain ranges, fan-brush painted swaths of many shades of green and, of course, the charismatic mega-fauna emerging from the forests or the depths of the sea-- this is our fourth day and it is what we have come to expect. Is this sensory overload? Or is it sheer gratitude for an opportunity to experience southeast Alaska at its finest? Which ever it is, we are in pure heaven!
This morning we sailed south down Chatham Strait and into Sitkoh Bay at the eastern entrance of Peril Strait. The water was relatively calm except for the sudden rooster tail sprays caused by a couple of surfacing Dall’s porpoise. They rode our bow all the way into the bay and left “the game” just as we slowed down for yet another pre-breakfast wildlife sighting. A group of four dainty Sitka black tailed deer trailed along the water’s edge, sunlit bodies against the dark band of intertidal mussels.
Morning’s activities consisted of hiking along an old logging road and kayaking in the bay. The walk led into an old growth forest. Tracks of deer and brown bear could easily be seen in the thick black silt of this well-used road. Did even the many banana slugs that we spotted along the way find this to be the path of least resistance? Leaves of devil’s club and salmon berry extended out into the path trying their best to make our journey more difficult. However, with relative ease, we made our way through. For many, the final destination was a brown bear’s “scratching tree” and its well-worn path down to a small salmon stream.
Afternoon was spent searching for marine mammals along Chatham Strait. Large logs and other debris made identifying whales a bit more challenging than usual. Also in scanning the water for salmon, we spent more time looking down from the bow. Perhaps with so many new diversions we were all the more prepared for a very unique and unusual sighting later that afternoon. As we explored Kelp Bay just off Chatham Strait, we saw a brown bear swimming across the channel! At first, it appeared to be a mere brown dot with a few gulls flying overhead. As we neared, sure enough, the dot had little brown ears and a wake trailing behind it!
After dinner we entered a magical cove, Red Bluff. Waterfalls poured down from high, sheer walls of green and granite and yet another brown bear was spotted wandering along the shoreline. Wow! This was an amazing day!
Cardboard cutouts of picture perfect mountain ranges, fan-brush painted swaths of many shades of green and, of course, the charismatic mega-fauna emerging from the forests or the depths of the sea-- this is our fourth day and it is what we have come to expect. Is this sensory overload? Or is it sheer gratitude for an opportunity to experience southeast Alaska at its finest? Which ever it is, we are in pure heaven!
This morning we sailed south down Chatham Strait and into Sitkoh Bay at the eastern entrance of Peril Strait. The water was relatively calm except for the sudden rooster tail sprays caused by a couple of surfacing Dall’s porpoise. They rode our bow all the way into the bay and left “the game” just as we slowed down for yet another pre-breakfast wildlife sighting. A group of four dainty Sitka black tailed deer trailed along the water’s edge, sunlit bodies against the dark band of intertidal mussels.
Morning’s activities consisted of hiking along an old logging road and kayaking in the bay. The walk led into an old growth forest. Tracks of deer and brown bear could easily be seen in the thick black silt of this well-used road. Did even the many banana slugs that we spotted along the way find this to be the path of least resistance? Leaves of devil’s club and salmon berry extended out into the path trying their best to make our journey more difficult. However, with relative ease, we made our way through. For many, the final destination was a brown bear’s “scratching tree” and its well-worn path down to a small salmon stream.
Afternoon was spent searching for marine mammals along Chatham Strait. Large logs and other debris made identifying whales a bit more challenging than usual. Also in scanning the water for salmon, we spent more time looking down from the bow. Perhaps with so many new diversions we were all the more prepared for a very unique and unusual sighting later that afternoon. As we explored Kelp Bay just off Chatham Strait, we saw a brown bear swimming across the channel! At first, it appeared to be a mere brown dot with a few gulls flying overhead. As we neared, sure enough, the dot had little brown ears and a wake trailing behind it!
After dinner we entered a magical cove, Red Bluff. Waterfalls poured down from high, sheer walls of green and granite and yet another brown bear was spotted wandering along the shoreline. Wow! This was an amazing day!
