Southeast Alaska is always an amazing place to spend time, but every once in a while you get that one day when there are no clouds in the sky, warm temperatures, and special wildlife moments. Today was one of those days! It didn’t start out that way, with fog and low clouds early, but by the time breakfast was being served all that changed, and we had perfect conditions for our morning activities.
Those activities were happening in a bay on the northwest side of Chichagof Island, called Port Althorp, an area that we don’t visit much, but has a lot to offer our intrepid guest. So soon after breakfast the staff and crew went to shore with kayaks, and plenty of possibilities for hikes. The water in the bay was calm and very clear, with huge numbers of jellies floating in the placid waters. Perfect conditions for being out on the water!
Shore side also had near perfect conditions, not too high of a tide, leaving plenty of room to walk around the meadow at the end of the bay—even if it was slightly muddy! This gave us freedom to hike all the way to the salmon spawning stream that was on the far side of the meadow. That was our destination, but along the way we were treated to marvelous views of the tracks of the local residents in that intertidal mud flat: brown bears, river otters, and Sitka black-tail deer.
Finally, the hiking groups made it to the stream, and we were treated to large numbers of pink salmon working their way upstream to spawn in this pristine watershed. It was amazing to see so much life concentrated in one relatively small stream; Alaska at its finest!
Soon it was time to board National Geographic Sea Bird, eat lunch, and head toward the Inian Islands for our afternoon adventure: expedition-landing-craft cruising in this wildlife rich environment. As soon as the anchor went down the boats were lowered, and the first round of cruises set off to explore the many waterways of this beautiful area. There were northern sea lions, humpback whales, bald eagles, and lots of cute little harbor porpoise, along with magnificent views of the massive Fairweather mountain range on the western side of Glacier Bay National Park!
But it was time to think about tomorrow, so we needed to leave these enchanting islands and head toward the little town of Gustavus, where we would pick up our Park Service naturalist and Tlingit Native Cultural Interpreter who would accompany us for our day in Glacier Bay. It doesn’t get much better than this!
