Ideal Cove and Petersburg
Low clouds draped over dark misty mountains gave the landscape a mysterious aspect as the National Geographic Sea Lion dropped her anchor on the southeast side of Mitkof Island this morning. Stepping onto the fishnet covered boardwalk at Ideal Cove, we were transported deep into a dense green on green old growth coastal rain forest strung with mosses and lichens. Silvery droplets lay on the understory shrubs and we remarked on something amazing- it’s the end of July and the first signs of fall are appearing… a yellow leaf on the devil’s club, the twisted stalk is dying back, clumps of bright red bunchberry dot the base of trees where only a week ago there were the white bracts of dwarf dogwood.
Here in the north country, the plants have about two months to do everything- germinate, sprout, make a flower, find a pollinator and set seed before the first frost comes along. Long, long days of sub-arctic light certainly help them with accelerated growth and many plants have interesting adaptations to attract flies or mosquitoes as pollinators, since bees are in rather short supply. It was a delight to spend some time in and around this magnificent intact ecosystem.
The Norwegian-flavored town of Petersburg offered many wonderful options for the afternoon. Bicycling around the ocean’s edges, a walk to a glorious muskeg (where a black bear and a Sitka black-tailed deer were spotted!); intertidal exploration along the dock interested many and strolling through this friendly authentic fishing village is a great way to get a feel for rural Southeast Alaska. A number of folks chose to take to the air to have a close look at the nearby LeConte glacier- those I saw after the floatplane experience were speechless…just another fine day in Southeast Alaska.
