A sunny morning brought us to Pond Island, a smallish island with a muskeg/pond complex at its heart. After breakfast we headed out for a variety of activities. Hikers crawled over and under logs and along the edge of a muskeg, finding delicate coralroot orchids and yellow pond lilies. They even encountered a swimming boreal toad! A beaver dam stood sentinel at the end of the bog, an old collection of sticks and logs covered in grass and skunk cabbage. Pacific wrens called from the cover of blueberry bushes and red-breasted sapsuckers tapped on snags around the bog. Photographers tramped through the forest and along the edge of a creek, focusing on colors, shapes, textures, and perspective. Kayakers headed out on the water, enjoying views of Sitka black-tailed deer, a playful mink, harbor seals, and humpback whales. The sun was toasty warm, and shorts and T-shirts made a brief appearance for the week!
Following lunch, we picked up Dr. Andy Szabo from the Alaska Whale Foundation, who provided a wonderful presentation on the humpback whale population in Southeast Alaska. For the remainder of the afternoon we cruised Chatham Strait, spotting marine wildlife as the weather returned to its normal state of clouds and drizzle following the brief morning drought. Kids enjoyed pizza and a movie in the lounge during dinner and everyone turned out for an up-close and personal encounter with a cascading waterfall in Red Bluff Bay.
