George Island, Elfin Cove, Inian Islands
If you really want to unlock all the thrilling experiences that Southeast Alaska has to offer, you need to bring a sense of wonder as big as your wingspan. Stretch your arms out and embrace the humpback whales diving nearby as you kayak through the kelp beds surrounding George Island. Stand in the moss-cloaked forest and absorb the songs of Hermit thrush and winter wren. Creep up to the barnacle covered cliffs and gaze into the watery reflections of purple, pink and orange sea stars. Peek under the dock at Elfin Cove and discover sea anemones waving their feathery plumes in tidal rhythm. Delight in the sighting of a trio of horned puffins bobbing on the gentle swells as you bob along in your Zodiac. Revel in the unveiling of rosy pink roe as a wild Alaskan salmon is cleaned and prepared for market. Use your imagination to see the Steller sea lions catching the fish on the outgoing tide before they come to the surface and fling the fish to pieces before your eyes. If the sea was a pool of carbonated soda pop, sea lions would be the effervescent foam and bubbles rising and bursting at the top.
You can easily lose your sense of scale in this landscape devoid of man made references. We have no mailboxes or phone poles, no cars driving along the shoreline to compare distance and size. I thought I had lost my sense of scale while scanning for wildlife, but a crow flew into my binocular and gave me a renewed sense of how big "big" was and how little "little" could be. From a foggy distance, we thought we saw sea otters ahead of us. When the “otter” gave a snort and swam next to and under our Zodiac, the realization of how off our sense of scale was, and how big a Steller sea lion can be, became amazingly apparent.
What we experienced today, in the quiet moments, the together moments, the muddy moments and the wet moments will be with us to remember and share for years to come. What you gather is only limited by your sense of wonder and your willingness to experience the wildness of Alaska.
If you really want to unlock all the thrilling experiences that Southeast Alaska has to offer, you need to bring a sense of wonder as big as your wingspan. Stretch your arms out and embrace the humpback whales diving nearby as you kayak through the kelp beds surrounding George Island. Stand in the moss-cloaked forest and absorb the songs of Hermit thrush and winter wren. Creep up to the barnacle covered cliffs and gaze into the watery reflections of purple, pink and orange sea stars. Peek under the dock at Elfin Cove and discover sea anemones waving their feathery plumes in tidal rhythm. Delight in the sighting of a trio of horned puffins bobbing on the gentle swells as you bob along in your Zodiac. Revel in the unveiling of rosy pink roe as a wild Alaskan salmon is cleaned and prepared for market. Use your imagination to see the Steller sea lions catching the fish on the outgoing tide before they come to the surface and fling the fish to pieces before your eyes. If the sea was a pool of carbonated soda pop, sea lions would be the effervescent foam and bubbles rising and bursting at the top.
You can easily lose your sense of scale in this landscape devoid of man made references. We have no mailboxes or phone poles, no cars driving along the shoreline to compare distance and size. I thought I had lost my sense of scale while scanning for wildlife, but a crow flew into my binocular and gave me a renewed sense of how big "big" was and how little "little" could be. From a foggy distance, we thought we saw sea otters ahead of us. When the “otter” gave a snort and swam next to and under our Zodiac, the realization of how off our sense of scale was, and how big a Steller sea lion can be, became amazingly apparent.
What we experienced today, in the quiet moments, the together moments, the muddy moments and the wet moments will be with us to remember and share for years to come. What you gather is only limited by your sense of wonder and your willingness to experience the wildness of Alaska.
