Tues, July 14^th

Dundas Cove, AK

• A moose may not be pushed from an aircraft in flight. Good to know, but how do you get it thru TSA security?
• Road kill is fed to the poor. Lucky bastards…

Our morning stretch class was interrupted by a brown bear off in the distance. It was wandering around the tidal flats when it decided to go for a swim to the opposite side of the cove, before vanishing into the forest. As we watched it cross, we noticed 3 bald eagles sitting on a downed tree across the bay from the boat, and all this was before breakfast! As I’m typing this after having just finished breakfast, a few harbor porpoise are swimming close by to the boat.

Insisting I write this to preserve it for all eternity, David, one of the less sane guests on board, has laid claim this morning to being the ‘First to spot something in the water’, a small sea otter floating by. He has also made claims of seeing great white sharks, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and dinosaurs swimming alongside, so it really isn’t that noble of a claim to fame, but he’s old and harmless (and maybe reading this), so I’m humoring him.

Mary & I signed up for a morning kayak voyage followed by bushwhacking in the afternoon, but I passed on the paddling in hopes of my nose/throat feeling better. One of the things we really thought we’d see more of this trip was sunshine. So far, the first day we started this trip has had sun, but the rest of the days have all been blanketed with rain, fog or drizzle. Normally I’d be bummed, but the beauty of this vast open area takes your mind off the weather.

This afternoon we went bushwhacking, just as Lewis & Clark would have done years ago, but minus the Gore-Tex jackets, carbon-fiber walking poles and high-tech fabric clothing purchased from their local REI outfitter. After a short 2-minute skiff ride to a spot on the shoreline suitable for landing, we bushwhacked our way off into the wilderness. Bushwhacking may be a bit of a misnomer, as there was no real whacking of bush, but more of a pushing out of the way, or ducking under/over branches, roots and various non-poisonous (I hoped) indigenous growth, including alder and hemlock trees.

2015 AlaskaM-2187 The area we bushwhacked thru

Without benefit of any type of trail or direction, we slogged our way thru bogs and ponds as we made our way up the hill overlooking the cove we had just entered from.  Normally one would quietly and meditatively walk thru this area to appreciate the serenity of it. However, with the possibility of coming upon certain large mammals of the brown grizzly-like fur and long, sharp clawed variety, we made as much noise as we possibly could to alert them to our presence, and I hoped not letting them know their lunch had just arrived! We whacked bush up hill and over dale making our way thru the thick forest growth, and at one point came to a spot where we could either forge forward down a steep slippery slope and thru a quick running stream, or turn back the way we came. We all chose to continue on down the slope. L & C would have been proud!

BW1 Short bushwhacking video (no sound)

During dinner, we had another false fire alarm, but the sight of humpback whales on the horizon made up for it. We spent 30-45 minutes watching a half dozen whales gently cruising thru the area.