As planned, we headed out around 8:00 on a beautiful morning. Kathy took us to a little general store for coffee.
Note the store post is covered in canned salmon labels ....
and the trash cans downtown are wrapped to look like huge cans of salmon.
Then we went to the harbor nearby on yet another beautiful day here in the Inside Passage.
A bonus for us was that a marine biologist and whale specialist was in town doing some whale disentanglement classes, and he, Fred, was joining us this morning.
Kathy first took us out to a herring farming area where we saw some Marbled Murrelets, .....
and she showed us a petroglyph carved into a golden-orange rock rock.
Fred got off the boat for a closer look ....
while I took photos of our surroundings.
From there, we headed out to look for whales and otters. It wasn’t long before we started seeing a few sea otters. They just floated on the water on their backs as we past by, but if we slowed down or stopped they dove and swam away.
I managed to get one good shot of this one.
Then Kathy found a “raft” of about 100 otters. We’d never seen anything like that. It was hard to get them all in a wide shot.
We swung around to the other side for a little different lighting and a mountain backdrop.
They were all so skittish, it wasn’t easy to get close, but we got several good shots of a few of them as they curiously spy-hopped and watched us.
While we were observing the otters, we could see a couple of whale spouts in the distance.
We saw the spouts a few times, but by the time we finally got to them, the whales were nowhere to be found.
Then Kathy asked us if we’d be up for a short hike into the woods to a 130-foot waterfall. Absolutely!
On the way in among the sheltered coves, she spotted a Black Bear on the shore in the distance. We got a decent look through the binoculars before it walked back into the cover of the trees - our first Alaskan bear sighting.
It popped out again, but Kathy didn’t want to get too close and scare it too much as it was very near our upcoming hike. Though we didn't get a bear picture, the sheltered coves looked like a wonderful place to kayak.
She dropped us off on some rocks in gorgeous water, ....
and we walked to the Canoe Point trailhead.
I turned to get a few shots of Kathy's boat.
Starting up the trail, we were clearly in the rainforest, and it was a lovely little hike with moss all around.
Eventually, we came to the waterfall in a pretty little setting with basalt columns behind it.
Steve and Esther posed for a shot for perspective.
That was a nice little treat, and we hung out there for a several minutes before returning.
Back at the beach, ....
Kathy fetched us.
Then we passed by a seal haul-out, and all the seals bolted into the water. We watched as they all bobbed there looking at us.
We then headed back. Fred told us there was a trail to the top of this little mountain offering excellent views.
We docked in the harbor in the early afternoon.
We dropped Linda and Esther off at a place for them to do some beach combing per Kathy's direction. And Steve and I went to the local outfitter, Log Cabin Sporting Goods, to get advice on fishing tackle and places to fish. We knew the salmon weren’t running in the rivers as we were a couple months early, but we wanted to try to catch some trout in the streams or lakes.
We got some basic tackle and a list of lakes and streams to check out. Then we picked up the ladies and headed back to the B & B. They found some interesting pottery and other items.
Later that day, Steve and I tried to find a couple of the nearby fishing spots, and quickly realized we needed better directions. We could find the rivers and streams, but the access points weren’t clear.
We returned to Kathy’s house empty-handed, and as we were considering dinner, we asked Kathy where we could get some fresh fish. She said she needed to clean out her freezer to prepare for the new season, so she gave us two huge king salmon filets.
Kathy's husband, Matt, is a commercial fisherman, so there is no shortage of seafood in the house.
While Steve and I were gone, Kathy held a glass class, and Linda and Esther joined in.
After they were finished, we had an amazing salmon dinner at the B & B rather than going out.
And later than evening, Kathy hooked us up with a charter captain that was willing to take Steve and I out fishing for king salmon and halibut day after tomorrow. The private charters are expensive, but we looked at each other and agreed to do it.
With that taken care of, I charted out a trip to tour more of the island tomorrow, and get in a little fishing. We have no idea what we are doing, but we’ll give it a go.
That’s it for today. Until next time.
What an amazing day. Five stars for Kathy!!! Waterfalls and otters who could ask for more than that :)
Posted by: Tracy Perkins | Thursday, May 23, 2019 at 08:53 PM