Kelp Bay & Pond Island
My grandfather had a saying that may be familiar to you: “Moderation in all things, including moderation!”
It seems obvious, however, that nature in Alaska knows little about moderation. Something is trying to grow on every surface. Rocks are covered in algae, mussels or moss. Old man’s beard lichen hangs from the soft green hemlock branches and lung lichens cling to the trunks. Spiny devil’s club finds every available shaft of sunlight sneaking through the tightly-packed forest of evergreens and shadows, spreading its huge leaves in a photosynthetic territorial struggle. As one guest noted today during our morning Zodiac cruise, “There’s life everywhere!”
The life that we were lucky enough to find included a brown bear sow feeding at the intertidal buffet and her new cubs playing nearby in the shallow water. Another brown bear appeared in a meadow, dining hungrily on sedges, waiting for the inevitable return of spawning salmon.
Bonaparte’s gulls dove for fish en masse. At least ten bald eagles of various ages perched, soared or, in the case of one mating pair, worked to repair their tremendous platform nest. Nearly four dozen harbor seals hauled out on the sand, resting while watching us watching them. The ascending tremolo of a Swainson’s thrush and the single-noted trill of a varied thrush gave depth to the mists shrouding the mountains. And this was all before 11:30 in the morning!
The afternoon found us taking to the water in kayaks, hiking to beaver ponds and among Alaska’s tiny orchid species, and otherwise enjoying another day of wilderness adventure.
Tonight we sail east, but first we feast! Time for dinner . . .
