Ideal Cove & Petersburg, Alaska
Our morning wake-up call brought us on deck of the National Geographic Sea Lion eager to start our exploration of Mitkof Island. To our east, the large icebergs from the LeConte glacier seemed as large as a cruise ship, a truly staggering thought. Supplemented with nutrients from the nearby glacier and the Stikine River, these waters are prime habitat for Dungeness crab.
Much to the delight of our younger guests, Ideal Cove was dotted with crab pot buoys, making our Zodiac cruise to the beach very slalom-like. Here we explored the temperate rainforest in the Tongass National Forest while using a narrow boardwalk, limiting our impact on the land. Sitka spruce, western hemlock and Alaska yellow-cedar towered overhead.
Under the diffuse forest light we enjoyed many wildflowers and the occasional huckleberry. The paired, pink bells of the twin flower were found along one fallen tree while bog orchids were spotted when the forest opened up. In the muskeg near the end of our hike Steller’s jays busily squawked out of sight while we absorbed the natural silence.
A short distance from Ideal Cove lies the small town of Petersburg. Either the towns’ fishing fleet got word that we were planning a crab feast or the crab and salmon seasons are in full swing because the boats were nowhere to be seen. This proved to be beneficial for our invertebrate dock walk because there were many empty slips with encrusting organisms covering the floating docks. Luckily there were several friendly local families still in town subsistence fishing who were more than willing to answer our questions about fishing boats and their operation.
This town certainly has a surplus of knowledgeable locals who are great at catching the fish and crabs we desire. Without their hard work, our crab feast wouldn’t have been as fresh. Having an economy built on the fishing industry and a history rooted in Norwegian culture, Petersburg is still a friendly Alaskan town devoid of iceberg-sized cruise ships.
