Petersburg and LeConte Bay
We were eating breakfast as Captain Mark Graves parked the boat with pinpoint precision at the dock in Petersburg, which meant backing the Sea Lion into the dock space around a corner. That was one fine piece of “fancy driving.” Then we were off in different directions. Weather is always a toss up here in southeast Alaska, and because of poor conditions over the glacier, the flightseeing planes and helicopters did not go. On the flip side, that meant most of our group was able to walk through town or enjoy the Petersburg Creek Trail on Kupreanof Island, where a boardwalk made of planks runs through boggy forest and over a muskeg. Buckbean, Laborador tea and a variety of other plants were in bloom. Wolf and bear sign were present, and many of us sighted a pair of Sitka blacktail deer.
The bog wildflowers were so fine that certain photographers just had to get down and dirty, practicing “belly-button” biology. Since Petersburg is a big fishing center, a stop on the Alaskan Marine Highway, and a watery runway for flightseeing planes, we could hear the humming of the boats and planes that bring everything and everyone to this town.
Groups reporting back from the hikes found the birds more active than yesterday: Steller’s jays, juncos, bald eagles of all ages, blue herons by the dozen, varied thrushes, kinglets, and red-breasted sapsuckers were part of the sounds of everyday Petersburg.
After lunch, we set off from the dock and onward to Le Conte Bay. This set us up for wonderful Zodiac rides around the icebergs. Ice pelicans, whales, airplanes, ducks, and swans bobbed around us. We saw the difference between icebergs, bergy bits and growlers while witnessing dozens of mother seals and their pups resting on the ice. Glacial meltwater cascaded from every crack and crevice of the steep mountainside. After the Zodiacs, ice conditions were perfect, and we were actually able to see Le Conte glacier. This is a extreme rarity, as the channel usually has too much ice to accommodate a 150-foot vessel such as the Sea Lion.
After a wonderful slurry of ice peeled off the glacier, everyone scrambled into a dinner of fresh Dungess crab and baby back ribs.
We were eating breakfast as Captain Mark Graves parked the boat with pinpoint precision at the dock in Petersburg, which meant backing the Sea Lion into the dock space around a corner. That was one fine piece of “fancy driving.” Then we were off in different directions. Weather is always a toss up here in southeast Alaska, and because of poor conditions over the glacier, the flightseeing planes and helicopters did not go. On the flip side, that meant most of our group was able to walk through town or enjoy the Petersburg Creek Trail on Kupreanof Island, where a boardwalk made of planks runs through boggy forest and over a muskeg. Buckbean, Laborador tea and a variety of other plants were in bloom. Wolf and bear sign were present, and many of us sighted a pair of Sitka blacktail deer.
The bog wildflowers were so fine that certain photographers just had to get down and dirty, practicing “belly-button” biology. Since Petersburg is a big fishing center, a stop on the Alaskan Marine Highway, and a watery runway for flightseeing planes, we could hear the humming of the boats and planes that bring everything and everyone to this town.
Groups reporting back from the hikes found the birds more active than yesterday: Steller’s jays, juncos, bald eagles of all ages, blue herons by the dozen, varied thrushes, kinglets, and red-breasted sapsuckers were part of the sounds of everyday Petersburg.
After lunch, we set off from the dock and onward to Le Conte Bay. This set us up for wonderful Zodiac rides around the icebergs. Ice pelicans, whales, airplanes, ducks, and swans bobbed around us. We saw the difference between icebergs, bergy bits and growlers while witnessing dozens of mother seals and their pups resting on the ice. Glacial meltwater cascaded from every crack and crevice of the steep mountainside. After the Zodiacs, ice conditions were perfect, and we were actually able to see Le Conte glacier. This is a extreme rarity, as the channel usually has too much ice to accommodate a 150-foot vessel such as the Sea Lion.
After a wonderful slurry of ice peeled off the glacier, everyone scrambled into a dinner of fresh Dungess crab and baby back ribs.
