Misty Fjords and Bears

Trip Start May 31, 2008
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Trip End Aug 28, 2008


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Where I stayed
Clover Pass Resort Campground
(Ketchikan hotels)

Flag of United States  , Alaska,
Monday, June 16, 2008

Today we were to try again to take the cruise to Misty Fjords.  We awoke early to be into Ketchikan before 7 am to the sound once again of rain dancing on the roof.   Not a day to take a cruise to a scenic area, but we had no choice.  We had paid for the trip.  We met the tour this time and climbed on board the boat.  At least it was all enclosed and nice and dry.  There were only a few other passengers as a number of people from the two cruise ships in port had cancelled because of the weather.  There was an option to fly back from the fjord which we chose not to do.  At least there was lots of room to spread out. 

The clouds were hanging low as we left Ketchikan, but as we got closer to the fjord the rain stopped and the sky lightened although the mist and clouds still hung in the mountains.  Eagles dotted the trees along the route.  New Eddystone Rock, a nunatak, which is a pinnacle between converging glaciers, rose 237 feet in the air Black bear
Black bear
 .  Rocks along the way provide a haven for seals and their pups.  Three thousand foot high walls of rock show where glaciers scarred the landscape years ago. Along these walls, waterfalls cascade down. 

As we approached the seal rocks on the return trip there was a school of herring churning up the surface of the water.  Out of nowhere came an eagle who swooped down to fish right next to the boat and he came up with talons full of fish.  Each talon must have had a fish attached. 

After returning to Ketchikan, we returned to the trailer to relax after an early morning.

When we stopped into the grocery store to pick up something for dinner, we spoke to a man stocking shelves.  A few minutes later he found us in the store and told us that black bears had been seen in the evening along a creek south of the city, so after dinner we headed down there.  The bears were no longer along the river but had settled in the high grass on the other side.  We were able to get a few pictures before the lighting got too bad.  We will return tomorrow night before we leave Ketchikan to try again.
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