Scenery Cove, Cascade Creek and Petersburg
A very quiet morning of calm waves and a clear sky, the only sound was the engines of our ship, as we slid slowly into Scenery Cove. A quite small place, it was beautiful in the early morning as we watched a few seabirds flying in the cove. Among them were the Arctic terns, with their clear cries. Shortly after that we left, sailing off to Cascade Creek, where we had very interesting hikes up to a huge waterfall.
Again we sailed on, this time to the quaint small fishing town of Petersburg, founded in the late 1800’s by Norwegians, where they were protected from storms, and had an abundant supply of ice, from the LeConte Glacier. Today it is a bustling fishing town with dozens of fishing boats of all kinds, from smallish gill-netters to huge tenders who buy the fish from the fishermen directly out at the fishing sites. A series of walks were taken to a nearby bog or muskeg, where unique plants that have adapted to life in acid waters make their abode. Among the most interesting are the fly catching plants, the sundews. Many different trees are to be found here, especially the shore pine, and the Alaskan Yellow Cedar. Junipers are barely one foot high! The yellow salmonberries were delicious!
Others took interesting flights on floatplanes, to see the glaciers and their birthplaces, and had the opportunity of seeing moose, seals, mountain goats and huge calvings of the glacier front!
It really was a very generous day!
