Idaho Inlet & Inian Islands, Southeast Alaska
Sunny days are overrated! Imagine awakening in the morning surrounded by majestic mountains rising directly from the sea that are blanketed with spruce and hemlock forests and draped in misty fog…and it is overcast and raining. Kind of makes you want to curl up by the fire under a comforter with a book, doesn’t it? Well maybe in the lower 48, but certainly not here in southeast Alaska. There is way too much potential in each day to chance missing it by being indoors. So off we went after breakfast to hike in the forest or kayak over the sea…or both, and to discover what the day and this place had to offer. The answer to that question was…plenty to offer! The hikers explored the beach at Fox Creek, watched pink salmon by the hundreds making their way up the creek, mucked through mud and forests and meadows to reach a spectacular muskeg (the Algonquin Indian name for a peat bog) and uncovered more of the secrets of this lush land by the sea. The kayakers paddled around beautiful Shaw Island and watched bald eagles perched on prominent spruce trees, sea otters preen themselves near the shore and generally enjoyed moving silently over the water in their sleek craft.
During lunch, the National Geographic Sea Lion moved anchorages to the Inian Islands which are the northern guardians of the Inland Passage and stand against the mighty Pacific Ocean. Because all the water of Icy Strait must pass by these islands in 3 relatively small channels, 4 times per day, there are huge current and also huge productivity. There were a lot of large animals there to take advantage of the abundant food: humpback whales, sea otters, Steller sea lions, and bald eagles …and we got to see them all…and in great numbers. Curious groups of Steller sea lions, like gangs of adolescents, met our zodiacs, growling and playing about…one even landed briefly on one of the Zodiac pontoons in its youthful exuberance. A few of the sea lions were feeding on the salmon that have to pass through the islands on their way to their spawning grounds, so some of us tried to envision our fellow passengers eating their salmon dinner like the sea lions, that is, without hands…an interesting vision indeed! Another highlight of the afternoon Zodiac cruises were the numerous sea otters that floated along, belly up, near the kelp beds, one of them feeding on a pacific octopus.
After such an exciting day, we thought we were through being out in the rain, but just before dinner the call came from the bridge that we had humpback whales ahead. Many of us left our cocktail in the lounge and headed back into the rain to watch the graceful leviathans lift their one-ton flukes high into the air and slide effortlessly into the depths to feed on the great abundance of ‘krill’ in this incredibly productive part of the world. The jury verdict is in: rain or shine, southeast Alaska is unparalleled in its beauty and abundance and today was absolute proof.
Sunny days are overrated! Imagine awakening in the morning surrounded by majestic mountains rising directly from the sea that are blanketed with spruce and hemlock forests and draped in misty fog…and it is overcast and raining. Kind of makes you want to curl up by the fire under a comforter with a book, doesn’t it? Well maybe in the lower 48, but certainly not here in southeast Alaska. There is way too much potential in each day to chance missing it by being indoors. So off we went after breakfast to hike in the forest or kayak over the sea…or both, and to discover what the day and this place had to offer. The answer to that question was…plenty to offer! The hikers explored the beach at Fox Creek, watched pink salmon by the hundreds making their way up the creek, mucked through mud and forests and meadows to reach a spectacular muskeg (the Algonquin Indian name for a peat bog) and uncovered more of the secrets of this lush land by the sea. The kayakers paddled around beautiful Shaw Island and watched bald eagles perched on prominent spruce trees, sea otters preen themselves near the shore and generally enjoyed moving silently over the water in their sleek craft.
During lunch, the National Geographic Sea Lion moved anchorages to the Inian Islands which are the northern guardians of the Inland Passage and stand against the mighty Pacific Ocean. Because all the water of Icy Strait must pass by these islands in 3 relatively small channels, 4 times per day, there are huge current and also huge productivity. There were a lot of large animals there to take advantage of the abundant food: humpback whales, sea otters, Steller sea lions, and bald eagles …and we got to see them all…and in great numbers. Curious groups of Steller sea lions, like gangs of adolescents, met our zodiacs, growling and playing about…one even landed briefly on one of the Zodiac pontoons in its youthful exuberance. A few of the sea lions were feeding on the salmon that have to pass through the islands on their way to their spawning grounds, so some of us tried to envision our fellow passengers eating their salmon dinner like the sea lions, that is, without hands…an interesting vision indeed! Another highlight of the afternoon Zodiac cruises were the numerous sea otters that floated along, belly up, near the kelp beds, one of them feeding on a pacific octopus.
After such an exciting day, we thought we were through being out in the rain, but just before dinner the call came from the bridge that we had humpback whales ahead. Many of us left our cocktail in the lounge and headed back into the rain to watch the graceful leviathans lift their one-ton flukes high into the air and slide effortlessly into the depths to feed on the great abundance of ‘krill’ in this incredibly productive part of the world. The jury verdict is in: rain or shine, southeast Alaska is unparalleled in its beauty and abundance and today was absolute proof.
