13 May 25: Chapter 2 - The Cruise

14 May.  We awoke to a pretty sunny day. I went down and grabbed a light breakfast of scrambled eggs and a nice cafe Americano and Beanie had some fresh fruit. The agenda to transit the Peril Strait, named after some folks unfortunately got some bad shell fish and 150 of them died.  

Heading into Peril Pass

After that we'll hike on Emmons Island followed by a zodiac cruise around Vixen Island.  There's been reports of a brown bear on Vixen Island so hopefully we can get a peak.  

The ship has a very high tech tracking device so they know when passengers are either on board or ashore/zodiac.  We kind of had a had time figuring it out, especially after I inadvertently removed one of the tracking devices.

Gotta be careful when moving those pegs - held by hi-tech magnets!!

We zodiac to the island which means we have to go through all the stay dry protocols; mud boots, wet pants, personal life devices (you know, the big orange things we used to call life preservers), etc.  The trip took several minutes, we dumped the life preservers on the beach, got organized and headed out. This was the first time this ship made this stop so we'll all deal with some unknowns. The hike has a slant toward the things one sees and experiences in a temperate rainforest. Also, there are no trails so we'll bushwack our way around.   Even though we had hiked for quite a bit while in Sitka, these small islands were a little different, especially when you have a guide that can point out all the small things you don't know.  There are significant variations, from wet, mossy growth with mushrooms growing everywhere to dry fields and sporadic growth.  It saves me the trouble of making up things. The pics don't do a good job of conveying the experience.

Wet landing at Emmons Island

The guide said if the mushrooms are already growing the tree is either dead or dying.

This is why we wear the ole muck boots!!

Rare Beanie sighting in the wild.

After the hike we returned to the ship and had a light lunch.  After lunch we did a bridge tour.  Now don't get this confused with the big cruise lines where there's a scheduled time, an escort/guide, and formal briefings.  Here you just go up, open the door to the bridge, and ask if they're busy.  If it's yes, you say thanks and be back later, if it's a no, you just walk in and check things out. Not sure what the official "rank" of the young lady at the helm was, but it was two bars on the shoulder boards so we'll go with the Navy ranks and call her a LT.  We were navigating our way us thru the channels and just checking out all the instrumentation that told us speed, depth, buoy location, and location of other vessels (they had the Automated Identification System (AIS), both radio and satellite.  

On the bridge - very good operation.

The zodiac cruise was pretty good.  Basically we were scheduled to buzz around Viixen Island and of course, we were hoping to see whale (we're always hoping to see whale!), but that didn't happen.  Here's a quick video of Vixen Island.

We did come across a good size brown bear.  The theory is there was probably some kind of kill on the island that attracted the bear so he swam out, has been eating the kill and grazing around the spring greens.  It was a good day, good nature walk and a brown bear!  The pics don't do him justice - he was a big boy!!

Munching along the shoreline.

After this it was back to the ship, watched them load up the zodiacs and kayaks.

Both the kayaks and zodiacs are stored on the top of the ship.

After lunch we cruised north to Haines, about 135 miles along the Lynn Canal.  During the transit north we had a really good presentation by the photographer guru Nic.  The focus was on cell phone photography and I picked up a couple of pointers that I plan to use to screw up future photos!

Steps:  5,574

15 May.  We ported in Haines around 0530 and the good news we were actually tied up at the pier vs having to shuttle in via zodiac - don't have to mess with the wet gear, boots, etc!  When I looked out our window, this guys was snacking on something next door.

The Sea Bird with the booming metropolis of Haines in the backdrop.

Haines is a small down, around 2,000 people. Fun fact, it's one of the few, maybe the only, place in the area where can actually drive to Anchorage!  We plan to do a walk about this afternoon, but this morning we're gonna do a little hiking.

Today's destination is called Battery Point, a popular trail with very good views.  We took a zodiac to a neighboring beach, did a wet landing and hooked up on the trail at a lookout point.  This worked out pretty well as we could ditch of PFD (Personal Floatation Devices in case you weren't paying attention earlier), with the boatswain mate (well, technically I guess he's a coxswain while driving the boat),  and not have to carry it around with us as we'll be walking all the way back,  Also concludes the Coastie maritime knowledge I picked up that probably isn't correct anyway!  We did a wet landing, and headed in.

Chris, our Boatswain, dropping us off on the beach.

We checked out a nice lookout just off the trail before heading out.  The entire channel was incredible.  

The mountain/snow range is a bit blunted by the low cloud cover.

We joined back up to the trail and headed out.  The trail was very well maintained as it is pretty high use for tourists and locals alike.

All distances are one way.

There topography varied like so many of the trails in this area does.  Tall trees, then open meadow like areas, then open views to the sea, and cool little plants.

This is a close up of how the water deposits in the middle of this plant's leaves look.

Tiny little violets

I like the looks of these but honestly forgot the name - we'll call it "Spiked Deer Lettuce"

This pic gives you a petty good idea of just how well the trails are maintained.  Some elevation changes, but not too bad.

Nope, that is not Beanie - just some older woman that made us look bad!!

Another of seemingly endless great views

It took about 40 minutes to make it to Battery Point.  It's basically a small, natural formation the sticks out into the water with the channel on one side and a small cove on the other.  Great views of birds, some local crabbers setting traps, and snow capped mountains.

Snow capped mountains

Juncture of the sound and cove

That's a crab boat just off my left elbow

We made the turn at the point and headed back to the ship.  The return trip will be about a mile longer due to us using the zodiac for the first portion of this one.  One of the cooler things we saw on the hike back was the aftermath of this landslide.  It's the combination of heavy freeze, lot's of rain/snow, steep inclines, and a spring thaw.  The ice melts and adds to the heavy moisture from the rain/snow and gravity just beats the crap out of the trees ability to hold the soil and place and walla.  I failed to capture it in this pic, but there are two houses, one on either side, that were literally within 100 feet of being taken out by this landslide.  The road was washed all the way down to the sea.

Landslides - pretty common in this climate and terrain

Made it back to the ship, got cleaned up and headed into town for a walk about.  It's a typical tourist/working waterfront town.  Lots of touristy type places, a nice little microbrewery where we tried to somewhat disappointing locally brewed IPAs, a distillery,and assorted bars and gift shops.  Also all the small town things, grocery stores, very impressive local school facilities, and assorted parks.   There is also Fort Seward, an Army post built in 1902.  It was the first permanent U.S. Military installation build in Alaska.  Remember this was 50+ years before Alaska was even a state.  

Some of the remaining, heavily renovated, buildings of Ft Seward

After a couple hours of roaming the streets of downtown Haines, we headed back to the ship. clean up, and headed down for recap, happy hour, and dinner.  

Two other things of interest . . . well, at least to me.  During the recap we passed this really cool looking old lite on an island in the middle of the channel.  It was built in 1905 by the United States Light-House Establishment.

If you zoom in you can see the USLHE letters and the commissioning date

The second point of interest was I found out we had a celebrity on board.  Take a look at this pic and see if you can identify him.  I'll wait . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

This is none other than Judge Lance Ito of the O. J. Simpson trail fame. 

This wraps it up for today.  As you can see by my step count - I'm sleepy  . . . 

Steps:  21.932 

16 May.  During the night we sailed south down the Lynn Canal, an area known for its meeting up with the Pacific Ocean.  It's just south of Glacier Bay which we are hoping will be ice free enough that we can transit. We had a little breakfast and walked the deck checking out the area.  This morning we will anchor by the Inian Islands and do a zodiac cruise.  The target will be Steller Sea Lions.  Steller sea lions are named for Georg Wilhelm Steller, the German naturalist who first described and wrote about them in 1742.  These are pretty big boys and this area is one of the largest concentrations.  The fish are abundant so, like they say in Hunger Games, "May the odds be in our favor" or some corny cliché like that.

Unfortunately we were on the second wave for zodiac cruises so we watched a video about something I don't remember until our launch time of 1030.  We were greeting the early zodiac crews upon their return and they had encountered a large pod of Orca, AKA Killer Whales.  Envy boiled up in the back of my throat I immediately hated them - well that may be a little strong, but as long as we had the same (or better) experience, I would be okay!! We loaded up and headed out. 

The viewing was exceptional, lots of sea birds and it seemed like we couldn't swing a dead cat without see Steller Sea Lions - the place was lousy with sea lions.  Here's a hundred of so pictures.  Just kidding, we were very lucky to come across a large population.  The first batches were just catching a few rays on the rocks.  The weather was pretty good and I had my "good attitude" game face on.

See, I look happy . . . . but we better see some killer whales out there!!

Couple of big boys in the mix.

The Big Guy in the middle is most likely the keeper of this harem.

We came across this guy and noticed he had a brand.  The is a control number branded on him by the Alaska Dept of Fish & Game to track him, much like farmers do with cattle. His brand of 2 7 V indicates he was branded sometime in 1994 so he is somewhere in the late 20's or early 30's. When sightings are reported he location and general health is update to provide research data relating to the species and population as a whole.

Note the brand of 2 7 V.  

As a nice break in the action one of our zodiac mate caught this fabulous shot of a couple of sea birds taking flight.

These are Alcid, kind of a web-footed pigeon with a little more panache!

You have to wonder if every now & then they roll ever and oooops!!

Some great sea lion viewing.  Weather was pretty good, great by sea lion standards, so they were just laying around, catching some rays, and chilling. Here's a couple videos that capture the essence of the day.

Here's a quick clip of this sea lion enjoying a catch of the day.  This was one of the few sea lion feeding moments that was not interrupted by swooping sea birds trying to get a little piece of the action.

Also some great geological features

We tried to get the zodiac driver to boogie on through, but no joy!!

All kidding aside, it was a great morning cruise.  No Orcas, but still good.  The Steller sea lions were, how do you say steller!  We returned to the ship to grab some lunch and get ready for our afternoon hike on George Island.

The afternoon should be full.  It includes another zodiac cruise around and hiking on George Island.  The hike should be good, getting some exercise and we'll make our way to an old military site complete with a rather large piece of artillery from WWII.  

We did a zodiac wet landing on one of the more sandy beaches we've seen to date.  

Polar explorer Dr. R. C. Cross examines the beach for the many things he doesn't know.

One of the many unique features of the island.

We lovingly named this penis point.

An inlet water way along the way

Just a great view along the path.

One of the artillery pieces left behind following the war - doubt is saw any action.

Yet another classic example of military humor.

Modified quonset hut/ammo storage facility.

We finished up the island tour and began the zodiac portion of the trip.  The sites were, like all the others, really good.  Well as good as the zodiac cruise was this morning, it got that much better this afternoon.  We continued up the sound and could see a large concentration of seabirds ahead and went to see what was causing all the excitement.  I'm thinking orca, mother nature saying a crap load of sea lions feeding and a bunch of sea birds mooching.  Here's a quick shot of what made us thinks there was something good ahead! It got a little wet, rainy, and "sporty" so some of these shots may be a bit fuzzy.

A breaching whale - good start.  Orcas present themselves in different ways, but they are normally identified by their tall dorsal fin, especially on the males.  When this guy made his presence known we knew it was a big one!

The Big Guy

We came across several subgroups of 4-5 that made up a pod of 15-25, hard to tell exactly as they were moving if multiple directions at the same time.

At least 3 dorsal fins here.

Four more here.

Probably a female with an adolescent alongside

Note the definitive notch on the back - he can be tracked by this distinction

I wish I could say I shot these pics, but a lady in our zodiac. Marylou Graham, who clearly has superior photographic skills, equipment and most of all timing took these next two shots and was gracious enough to share them with us.  

What a great shot!  Three orcas all breaching at the same time!

Another great shot!  Almost completely out of the water!

After this epic trip we headed back to the ship.  The feeling of envy was gone and replaced with warmth and knowledge that we would be the point of envy!  Just makes me sleep better at night.  I can't help it - I'm a giver!!  Happy hour was a little bit more special, good meal, and peaceful sleep lay ahead.

Steps:  8,601

17 May.  Today is our last day of the cruise.  We arrive in Juneau early tomorrow morning, but today should be good.  We cruised south of Haine during the night and are heading to Stephen's Passage into Endicott Arm and eventually to the base of the Dawes Glacier.  No hiking or landing today, but it should be a good zodiac cruise.

Weather was reasonable with light showers off and on.  We headed up to the Dawes Glacier.  Lot's activity going on, but early on it was the views.  The cliffs rose almost straight up from the channel with lots of streams and waterfalls cascading down the sides. Many still had lots of snow.  You could tell where they had worn paths into the granite over time.

This one is still primarily snow.

These videos catches the cliffs as we motor close to shore. Toward the end of the second clip we come upon a nice shot of the water running off the sides of the fjord. 

Snow melt working its way down the cliff side.

Quite a few bergie bits along the way, but then we got an unexpected treat - Alaskan Mountain Goats making their way up these incredibly step inclines.  We got two videos, neither of which are spectacular, but both capture their ability to get around in this harsh environment.

The glacier was pretty cool, but truth be said, after Antarctica it was a little hard to get too excited.  Glad we had the chance to travel up this fjord.  Here are a few of the better sightings.

    

On the return to were boarded by pirates.  Luckily they were the good kind bringing us bounty of hot chocolate with Baileys, Brandy, or Kalua options.  Nice little warm up towards the end of the day

AFter our refreshments on the high sea it was back to the ship, in pronto mode in this time elapse video.

Once back on board it was announced the Polar Plunge option was available for anyone that wanted to for some unknown reason, jmp into 33 degree water.  A few folks took "advantage" of the offer.

After a nice happy hour, the best meal of the trip, and a beautiful sunset, tomorrow it's on to Juneau.

Steps  2447

We enjoyed the cruise portion.  It does not compete with the Quark cruise, but in their defense, I'm not sure what could.  The small ship is a negative and a positive.  Quarters are cramped therefore day to day activities are more challenging, but the ship can go virtually anywhere along the way.  

Alaska is so amazing.  Much like we did on our Quark Expedition, passengers contributed their personal photos to a group file capturing events, people, places, and wildlife along the journey.  The file is too large to update to this blog, but I have loaded it to my personal YouTube account and it can be viewed by clicking here, SE Alaska: Sitka to Juneau.