Baranof Island
It was a magical morning. We woke up to a misty and peaceful Red Bluff Bay of Baranof Island. The serene water reflected images of the forested cliffside, a thundering waterfall and two small sailboats anchored inside. It did not take long to spot several eagles perched up high in the trees.
However, as soon as we left the protected bay we were surrounded by fog as we made our way through Chatham Strait on our way to Hanus Bay. This was the perfect time for one of naturalists, Linda Burback, to tell us about “The Signs of Life.” As soon as Linda was finished, the fog lifted and we were in for a treat! A humpback whale and her calf were feeding and breaching just off the bow of our ship. With perfect timing, scientist Andy Szabo appeared in a Zodiac, came on board and described his PhD research about mother and calf behavior while the show was still going on.
After lunch, we arrived at Hanus Bay, another tranquil inlet. The water was so clear we could see schools of chum and sockeye salmon swimming towards the river of their spawning grounds. Several options were available for us to explore this pristine environment – kayaking, long hike up to Lake Eva, short and medium hikes up to the falls of the river. The hike through the old growth forest was supernatural. Moss covered almost everything within three feet of the ground. Sitka spruce and western hemlock created a towering canopy with blueberries, salmonberries and other small, shade-tolerant plants below. The long hikers reached Lake Eva with bald eagles soaring and harlequin ducks swimming. Along the way we were observed by a Sitka black-tailed deer that watched us carefully but fearlessly from a position in the middle of the stream. Everyone got a close-up view of a major run of spawning salmon in huge abundance.
We returned to the ship still basking in the beauty of the Alaska wilderness, how can it get better than this?
It was a magical morning. We woke up to a misty and peaceful Red Bluff Bay of Baranof Island. The serene water reflected images of the forested cliffside, a thundering waterfall and two small sailboats anchored inside. It did not take long to spot several eagles perched up high in the trees.
However, as soon as we left the protected bay we were surrounded by fog as we made our way through Chatham Strait on our way to Hanus Bay. This was the perfect time for one of naturalists, Linda Burback, to tell us about “The Signs of Life.” As soon as Linda was finished, the fog lifted and we were in for a treat! A humpback whale and her calf were feeding and breaching just off the bow of our ship. With perfect timing, scientist Andy Szabo appeared in a Zodiac, came on board and described his PhD research about mother and calf behavior while the show was still going on.
After lunch, we arrived at Hanus Bay, another tranquil inlet. The water was so clear we could see schools of chum and sockeye salmon swimming towards the river of their spawning grounds. Several options were available for us to explore this pristine environment – kayaking, long hike up to Lake Eva, short and medium hikes up to the falls of the river. The hike through the old growth forest was supernatural. Moss covered almost everything within three feet of the ground. Sitka spruce and western hemlock created a towering canopy with blueberries, salmonberries and other small, shade-tolerant plants below. The long hikers reached Lake Eva with bald eagles soaring and harlequin ducks swimming. Along the way we were observed by a Sitka black-tailed deer that watched us carefully but fearlessly from a position in the middle of the stream. Everyone got a close-up view of a major run of spawning salmon in huge abundance.
We returned to the ship still basking in the beauty of the Alaska wilderness, how can it get better than this?
