Mitkof Island is a medium-sized island, south of Frederick Sound. There is a very important fishing center of Alaska here, called Petersburg. Before we sailed into this lovely little fishing town, we made a stop at a point south of the island, called Ideal Cove. Here a boardwalk took us into the well-kept forest, formed of Sitka spruce and western hemlock. It has been raining for the last few days, and everything is deep green, with an interesting smell. The forest is full of mushrooms, liverworts, and mosses of many different species, as well as larger plants, such as skunk cabbage, devil’s club, and the terribly poisonous corn lily, also called Indian hellebore, in the lily family. Among these flowering plants were also salmon berry bushes, and the most abundant plant in the area: blueberries. But a very late spring did not help these plants in making a big crop of berries!
We did different length hikes and then had to walk quite a distance from the forest’s edge to the water, due to the incredibly low tide. Then we proceeded to sail on to Petersburg, north of Mitkof Island. Here we docked at a marina full of many different types of fishing boats, such as tenders, purse-seiner, trawlers, and trollers. We even saw a few crab potters and gill-netters. The interesting smell of fish and shrimp being processed in the town canneries wafted on us continuously. Many of us walked into town, others rode bicycles and a good number of us crossed Wrangel Narrows on our expedition landing craft and walked to the bog or muskeg on Kupreanof Island. The plants here were very interesting, as they were adapted to live in a boggy situation with acid water. Sundews, those interesting insect eaters, bog orchids, gentians, cotton grass, and buckbean were seen, as well as the different tress that can live there, out of the strong, blocking influence of the two dominant trees that cover most of Alaska. There are to be seen lodgepole pines, Alaska yellow cedars, mountain hemlock, and junipers, only a foot high!
We left the dock shortly after, and headed out to Frederick Sound, then turned north into Stephens Passage, for another adventure, tomorrow!
