An early morning and rather wet ride from the National Geographic Sea Lion brought our group to a boardwalk trail along the shoreline of Ideal Cove on Mitkof Island. Three groups set out to explore. The fast movers, led by our wellness specialist, moved quickly through the forest trail to the far side of a large lake about two miles from the trail head. Talk was kept to a minimum on this aerobic hike as guests worked hard to burn off the delicious calories consumed onboard, courtesy of our galley crew.
The slower hikers were able to look closely at the sights of the rain forest and were treated to a close-up view of a sooty grouse with three large “chicks” in the trees and walking in front of us along the forest trail. Other less direct signs of life included moose tracks and the scat of a gray wolf. The young explorers were the real troupers in the group as they moved quickly through the forest all the way to the lake edge. Here they jumped into the water, picked up their gear and hoofed it back to shore where they joined the third mate for an impromptu class on how to drive the inflatable DIBs!
After returning to the ship for lunch, we arrived in Petersburg for our afternoon adventures. Many took advantage of the time to explore the town, while some spent an hour on Kupeanof Island for a walk led by naturalist and photo instructor Jeff Litton. This group observed and photographed a special bog environment, or “muskeg,” where acidic and highly saturated soil produces an exotic array of plants including the ubiquitous sphagnum moss, the gnarled and stunted shore pine, beautiful bog orchids, and the insectivorous sundew.
As a special treat for our small group, we were greeted on the dock by a local woman, Becky Knight, who led us on an informative dockside tour of the fishing fleet. As we wandered the docks, we could see sea urchins living on the walls of the docks. We got a firsthand glimpse of a fisherman’s life aboard their fishing vessels. We were even lucky enough to witness a harbor seal feasting on a fishy handout by a local fisherman. To finish our spectacular visit to Petersburg, we had a wonderful crab dinner waiting for us when we returned to the ship.
