At some point in the very early hours of the morning, expedition leader Rab Cummings and captain Chris Rhodes made a decision to change course and head for an alternate destination. The original plan was to visit Le Conte Bay, but gusty winds and rain would have made that open bay an uncomfortable place for an expedition landing craft cruise.
Cascade Creek is by no means a consolation prize. In fact, it is a perfect place for a quick exploration, with lush forest trails leading to an accessible waterfall. The adjacent mountains make a nice wind block, and what little rain fell was barely a drizzle. The passing clouds and blue sky windows overhead left beautiful textures and shadows on the hillsides, and the damp understory glowed in the way only a wet misty day can create.
The main attraction for the day was Petersburg, a small yet thriving commercial fishing village. The docks seem crammed with new trawlers and seiners while the town oozes the historic charm of the old frontier. Peterburg’s Norwegian heritage is still celebrated through the local architecture, art, and culture.
Guests had many options for exploring, from simply exploring the shops along main street to the excitement of flying over a glacier in a floatplane. In between were dock tours, bike rides, photo walks, and the popular “Bog Walk” into an Alaskan muskeg bog, where the forest is radically changed by weird and strange natural processes.
By cocktail hour, the National Geographic Sea Bird’s lounge was abuzz with the excitement of guests wanting to share their experiences and stories with those who chose a different outing for the afternoon. At the end of our daily Recap, the hotel manager gave a comic demonstration of how to eat tonight’s Dungeness crab feast like a sea otter!
As if to put a punctuation mark on the day, at 10p.m. the evening clouds seemed to burst with gold as the setting sun found a few cracks in the overcast. The golden light shimmered over the waters off the bow while a dozen humpback whales blew blossoms of spray all around us. Another amazing Alaskan day was coming to a close…
