Chatham Strait, Pavlov Harbor & Basket Bay
Blue skies and distant clouds illuminated the first morning of our journey through Southeast Alaska. Sailing through Chatham Strait between Admiralty and Chichagof Islands, we spotted a few humpback whales and fleeting Dall’s porpoises.
Pavlov Harbor, at Chichagof Island was our destination for exploring the temperate rain forest for the first time. Today the tide was extremely low and from the first moment of our landing we started finding interesting intertidal creatures. Some ochre stars, anemones, and clams were seen.
As we made our way into the forest, we could see several species of flowers that grow happily between the forest’s edge and the beach. Red and Unalaska paintbrush, chocolate lilies, and even the beautiful wild irises were some of the most colorful spring jewels that attracted everyone’s attention.
Once in the forest, we hiked through bear-made trails under the shade of majestic Sitka spruce and western hemlocks. The understory vegetation ranged from root orchids, dwarf dogwood, blueberry bushes, and an infinity of mosses covering not only the ground, but also the branches of the trees.
For the afternoon’s destination, we repositioned to Basket Bay. This little inlet is a great spot for a Zodiac cruise and exploring by kayak. Old growth forest surrounds this beautiful bay, but the highlight of this place is a fresh water stream that flows into the fjord through a scenic grotto.
As we explored Basket Bay by either Zodiac cruise or kayak, we could see bald eagles on the trees and flying above, common mergansers and even an American dipper. Dippers are fascinating songbirds that actually dive and walk through the bottom of fast running streams, catching small fish. Another bird which we commonly see and rarely pay much attention to is the northwestern crow. These birds are amongst the most intelligent animals. They have been seen taking the mussels from the shoreline and dropping them in mid-air to break them. They are opportunistic, being present wherever food is present. They have great personalities and if anything, they are easy to find.
