Ideal Cove, Petersburg town & Bog walk
Early this morning the National Geographic Sea Lion cruised into a still mist-filled inlet called Ideal Cove. Our ship had been moving south through Stevens Passage along the eastern side of Mitkof Island slowing her speed, making her way in an extremely low tide towards our anchorage. Our day began early to make enough time to explore our first nearby old growth forest linked by a long boardwalk giving access to every type of walker regardless of ability!
After Zodiacs brought all hikers ashore we headed up the boardwalk towards the first in a series of three lakes. The forest was decorated in a spray of yesterday’s rain. Each and every plant, tree and shrub sparkled in millions of diamonds; all raindrops reflecting and refracting the scenes around them, a wonderful gift from the huge rainfall of the day before.
We found the usual residents of the temperate rainforest from the lower canopy of unusual ground plants to ripe huckleberries to small Western hemlocks to the towering Sitka spruce and larger Hemlocks overhead. It was a long-lived forest exhibiting all the characteristics of diversity: different ages and many hummocks that make up the uneven and visually beautiful aspects of old growth forest.
This type of forest runs from Southeast Alaska to Northern California and all along this coast line different species of trees, shrubs and small plants are characteristic members of an interwoven and complex web of life. Each member finds a close, often connected, relationship with another member of the community.
Each group, from long hikers to leisurely, had an opportunity to explore this unique ecosystem, from the tiniest raindrop on a newborn spruce tree to a vista across the first lake with the added gift of a Bald eagle’s chortling voice echoing off water and hillsides.
Returning back through the forest along the boardwalk our return trip found new sights in the forest. On the upper section of a Sitka spruce, the brilliant red-orange of a chicken of the forest fungus displayed itself. High bush cranberry and Twinflower decorated the forest floor around the boardwalk. The sun played with us coming in and out of the dense carpet and upper canopy of forest.
Back on the beach we made our way by Zodiac back to the National Geographic Sea Lion and made ready for a return trip down Stevens Passage and into Frederick Sound on our way toward our afternoon destination of the town of Petersburg. On our way, Fred Sharpe from the Alaska Whale Foundation joined us on board. Fred has spent more than twenty years in this particular area of Alaska watching a style of cooperative Humpback whale feeding strategy, which he has documented, and we were lucky enough to spend just enough time learning and most importantly becoming both curious and enthralled about a cooperative feeding style, exhibited by Humpback whales in Southeast Alaska.
As lunch was being served, the National Geographic Sea Lion was making her way into the main harbor of Petersburg, Alaska. Our afternoon was open for exploration of this well-known fishing community. A fleet of bicycles were available, as was a Zodiac ride to a neighboring island for bog hikes and just a chance to see what an Alaskan fishing community was all about! As many of us left our vessel for our various adventures, we all noted the scent of salmon wafting through the air. The cannery was producing a lot of steam, as production was in full swing with many fishing boats either coming into port or having already returned from a recent opening, fishing for salmon.
Fishing began more than 2,000 years ago northeast of Petersburg at Sandy Beach where the Tlingit people had a long-standing fish camp. The region turned into a year round community for settlers at the turn of the 20th century after a Norwegian, Peter Buschmann, eyed the blue ice of LeConte Glacier. Buschmann decided that the north end of Mitkof Island with glacier ice available, nearby, would be an ideal location for a cannery. In 1897 the Icy Straits Packing Co. began its construction. A sawmill to cut the local lumber was added to the project and in a very short time the community of Petersburg was well established.
We took our time exploring the local hardware store, a fabulous bookstore, the local market and once we had wandered the narrow streets enough to see the lay of the land and the way of life, many of us returned to the NG Sea Lion for an early evening departure.
As is the tradition throughout the Northwest, the chefs of the National Geographic Sea Lion were preparing a Dungeness crab feast for our evening meal, the perfect finale to a Southeast Alaska day that has included not only old growth forest, cruising well-known passages filled with tree-covered islands, a visit to a long established fishing town, the aroma of cooking fish filling the air, but also the beauty of a place so dearly loved by few people, leaving enough open spaces for guests like ourselves to explore.
