Alaska Day 4: A Misty Moisty Morning

We awoke to Mama bear and the little ones strolling across the “beach” but they are not fishing and I imagine them stuffed from the abundance. I don’t think this gang will have any trouble lasting through the Alaska winter.

Pete has done some research on the ecology here, and tells me that the bears have a habit of grabbing a fish, moving off to the forest line, taking a bite or two of the richest parts and then tossing the remains aside. Now the eagles grab what they want and the rest composts at the forest line, creating a strong tree line that prevents erosion by the stream. And that strengthens that whole area. Perfect cycle of life.

Adventuring Again!

Now we’re off again to our next destination, Red Bluff, about 4 hours from here. Sue is preparing omelets and she’s up and down the stairs to help Pete get underway as well. Breakfast also includes a small pile of blueberries, sprouts and a half English muffin with strawberry jam. Delicious. I get hungry a lot here, (Is it the Alaska air?) but Sue feeds us well.

I’ve taken on the task as dishwasher, heating up water in the kettle for the job, which saves propane by not constantly heating water when it’s not needed. So much here is about conserving, being smart with trash and keeping things, literally, “ship-shape.”

Sue is at the wheel while Pete downloads the videos and photos he’s been taking. She and I discuss all sorts of private things from our respective youths, and I realize Sue, whom I’ve not spent much time with in prior years, is finally entering my heart as a second daughter-in-law.

More Whales!

We’re 3 hours out and Sue spots more whales. She shouts “There’s a blow at 11:00!” and I see nothing. Frustrating! I’m thinking I need to get my distance vision checked soon. But as we cruise closer to the pod I spot them. Binoculars up. I see the blow, the back curve and fin and then the dive with the tail straight up. Another and another. A bounty of whale sightings! As they disappear behind us and I think I spot another one (I don’t) Sue and I joke about “wave whales related distantly to rock bears” the hallucinatory animals you “spot”, always at a distance. The difference between “rock bears” and “wave whales” is that the wave whales actually move.

Today is a world of grey; green grey water, misted green grey mountains, white grey sky.

An hour later Sue is diving (with gloves on) into the kitchen freezer, 2 ½ ft deep, to pull out food for the next couple days. She tells me to ignore any cussing I hear and I laugh. Pete has filled it with fish and Sue tells me his bag of bait takes up a goodly portion of the freezer. But they’ll be glad of all this bounty when they return, some of which they’ll share with friends and family.

Sue and I are making lunch in the galley and Pete suddenly cuts the motor; we somehow know this time there’s something special to see topside. We rush up to the deck and there’s a hump back whale about 100 feet away port side, blowing and diving. I’m waiting for another appearance but he’s gone behind us and I hear “Whoa!” from starboard and he shows again, flukes to the sky. This guy is close!

Sue is videotaping the whale, suddenly swings the camera around and catches my heartfelt “Wow!” 

This last exciting encounter is followed by two hours of quiet cruising.

These Beautiful Waterfalls…

We reach Red Bluffs, glorious cliffs in brown and green, long water falls cascading down at intervals.

Pete sets a prawn trap at the entrance of the cove, directing Sue at the wheel. He lowers it 250 feet down to the bottom because that’s where the trap lies flat so we can pick it up tomorrow morning on our way to our next stop.

Pete has caught another salmon. It’s a coho this time, deep rich red flesh. Kona got her share after Pete filleted it.

Our Private Cove, Complete with a Grizzly

So far we are the only humans here. While Pete cooks salmon we spot a big grizzly on the shore who occasionally sniffs towards the Kama Hele, maybe smelling the barbecued fish. We make a few tense jokes about exactly why no one else is anchored here, and eye the curious bear a little suspiciously. Pete plans to raise the dinghy tonight when we return from a planned evening jaunt around the cove, just in case. I point out that a bear could still climb the stairs from the little dock at water level (where Peter cleans the fish) but Peter says he’s never heard of a grizzly mounting a boat in Alaska. So, probably we’ll be fine…(scary music)

After dinner, we all hop in the dinghy for an evening “stroll,” buzzing around the harbor, grazing the calm waters in this little boat.

We pass sheer rock sides soaring 300 feet on our way to a large and noisy waterfall, our destination.

The water looks thick, opaque where it deepens, but in the shallows we see thousands of fish swimming in tight formation through the clear/blue green. I try to take a photo with my iphone but it’s just a blur.

We motor towards the waterfall and almost there, spot starfish clinging to the underwater walls, four healthy ones with 5 thick legs each. It seems incongruous only because I associate starfish with Florida and the Caribbean. This bunch are neutral tones, browns and tans but Sue told me she saw purple and red ones when they were in British Columbia.

Peter has killed the motor, and Sue tells him no tricks because she doesn’t want to get wet. Pete grins and I’m braced for what seems like unlikely horseplay. But we stay far enough back to just feel the fine mist of spray from 200 feet of cascading water. And that’s just as far as we can see looking straight up the falls. Really, it begins its descent way above us, a dramatic run off from Alaska’s high and unseen places.

Your Animal Loving Artist,

Merry