Sitkoh Bay, Chichagof Island & Lake Eva, Baranof Island
An ethereal light bathed the flat waters and forests this morning in Chatham Strait, with an ephemeral rainbow lending a tranquil quality to the landscape. Our series of sunny days and clear blue skies was broken, now it was time to luxuriate in the hydrational aspects of Southeast Alaska.
Crisscrossing Chatham Strait in search of marine life gave us an opportunity to reflect and digest the prolific wildlife sightings from earlier in our voyage. At Sitkoh Bay we found a quiet shaded path, perfect for a short morning stroll. While walking and grazing on vermillion-red thimble berries, we found a tiny white banana slug. Its coloration was a random black spotting, like a tiny painted minstrel caught in the rain, its performance makeup washing off in dots and blotches. It possessed an indignant streak as well, as it refused to extend it two pairs of tentacles.
The alders which provided our shady canopy are of primary importance to a developing forest. Alders are capable of taking up atmospheric nitrogen and converting it to a usable form for the plant. As the deciduous alder leaves fall and decompose, the nitrogen is released. The ultimate profiteers of this fertilizer factory are the Sitka spruce, towering conifers that out compete and shade out the alders, leaving the erstwhile alders on the sunny fringes of shoreline.
The afternoon at Lake Eva brought the sighting of a sow brown bear and her two cubs. They played a hide and seek game with our hiking groups and kayakers. Cautiously we navigated the trail to avoid startling or separating the trio. A few brief glimpses were seen of the sow. The young cubs remained cautious and furtive.
Special sightings bring about inspiration to different people in multifarious forms. The closing paragraph is a portion of a song that our youngest guest, a shy young lady, wrote as a celebration commemorating her Alaskan voyage.
…clap for Alaska because the whales, whales, whales, seals and eagles and glaciers and mountains and clouds in the sky, sky, sky, the sky is so bright like the sun and the moon and the stars!
An ethereal light bathed the flat waters and forests this morning in Chatham Strait, with an ephemeral rainbow lending a tranquil quality to the landscape. Our series of sunny days and clear blue skies was broken, now it was time to luxuriate in the hydrational aspects of Southeast Alaska.
Crisscrossing Chatham Strait in search of marine life gave us an opportunity to reflect and digest the prolific wildlife sightings from earlier in our voyage. At Sitkoh Bay we found a quiet shaded path, perfect for a short morning stroll. While walking and grazing on vermillion-red thimble berries, we found a tiny white banana slug. Its coloration was a random black spotting, like a tiny painted minstrel caught in the rain, its performance makeup washing off in dots and blotches. It possessed an indignant streak as well, as it refused to extend it two pairs of tentacles.
The alders which provided our shady canopy are of primary importance to a developing forest. Alders are capable of taking up atmospheric nitrogen and converting it to a usable form for the plant. As the deciduous alder leaves fall and decompose, the nitrogen is released. The ultimate profiteers of this fertilizer factory are the Sitka spruce, towering conifers that out compete and shade out the alders, leaving the erstwhile alders on the sunny fringes of shoreline.
The afternoon at Lake Eva brought the sighting of a sow brown bear and her two cubs. They played a hide and seek game with our hiking groups and kayakers. Cautiously we navigated the trail to avoid startling or separating the trio. A few brief glimpses were seen of the sow. The young cubs remained cautious and furtive.
Special sightings bring about inspiration to different people in multifarious forms. The closing paragraph is a portion of a song that our youngest guest, a shy young lady, wrote as a celebration commemorating her Alaskan voyage.
…clap for Alaska because the whales, whales, whales, seals and eagles and glaciers and mountains and clouds in the sky, sky, sky, the sky is so bright like the sun and the moon and the stars!
