It’s the final day of our voyage, and our luck with the weather has held; another sunny morning, with very moderate temperatures. This will be perfect for the activities that we have planned – hiking, kayaking and Zodiac cruising in an area called Hanus Bay. So right after breakfast we got our gear together and headed for shore.
This morning brought a very low tide, which exposed a vast tidal area loaded with sea stars, cockle shells and clams. There were even a large number of Dungeness crabs scurrying around in the shallow waters just off the beach.
First the long hikers left to try and make it all the way up the recently improved trail to Lake Eva. One of the highlights of this area is beautiful rain forest habitat, with some of the largest “old growth” Sitka spruces and Western hemlocks that we see in this area of Southeast Alaska. The medium-length hikes soon followed, and then the “photo walk.” Many of the hikers returned to the beach after a couple of hours to get in a last kayak and Zodiac cruise before we all headed back to National Geographic Sea Lion for lunch.
It was a leisurely afternoon of cruising through Peril Straits, looking for more wildlife, a lecture, and of course the dreaded packing. Our expedition was coming to an end as we sailed toward Sitka, but the memories of this special voyage will last a lifetime!
