Icy Strait
Today we explored the far northern part of Southeast Alaska, around Icy Strait.
Our day began near the mouth of Idaho Inlet. We went ashore at Fox Creek. There we walked over swales covered in vegetation at late summer’s fullest – tall cow parsnips were encumbered by seedy heads, and the pods of chocolate lily were near-bursting. In the forest, huckleberries were thick on the bushes, and devils’clubs bore scarlet wads of berries. We walked on trails formerly used by bears, and even saw a “cultural trail,” where bears, putting their feet in the same spots every time, had worn divots in the moss. Some climbed to muskeg, the unusual park-like environment of grasses and widely-spaced trees that grow where sphagnum moss dominates.
Meanwhile, others were kayaking around Shaw Island. Paddlers saw sea otters and harbor porpoises.
Later in the day we motored to the Inian Islands. This archipelago partially blocks Icy Strait, the channel through which all of northern Southeast Alaska empties and fills with each change of tide. Thus, currents in the Inians are particularly fierce, stirring the sea to extraordinary productivity. By Zodiac we explored the Inians. Near the entrance to Cross Sound, the water raced like a river, full of whirlpools and waves. Here, we found sea lions fishing. Huge creatures, they seemed bulky brutes, yet they swam with grace and ease. Nearby, more sea lions hauled out on the rocks. Some big males sprawled in solitary splendor, eying us with slight suspicion and insouciance. Others writhed and caterwauled in tight groups, crowding together yet bickering over lack of space. Some boats were lucky enough to see whales negotiating the currents. In quieter water, sea otters paddled and dove. Some saw an otter chomping down an octopus; others found otters napping “on the ocean’s bed” in the bright sunshine.
By land and by sea, Icy Strait is one of the richest and most interesting parts of an extraordinary region.
