The past few weeks have been very busy. I haven't had a 'real' day off in a while. Saturday, the entire company took off for the "Crew Paddle and Picnic." (More about that to come.) And Sunday was my real day off, but I ended up guiding a tour of 5 Alaska Airlines crew members (2 pilots and 3 flight attendants) in the afternoon. I had just walked into the library when Alison called and asked if I could lead a tour. All the other guides were out. This group had just flown into Sitka and were leaving at 6 am the next morning. I really wanted to say 'no,' but I took it anyway. And it's a good thing I did. They were a fun and easygoing group to lead and they tipped me very well at the end. Not only that, Skeeter and I ran into them at the local Mexican restaurant later. They invited us to join them and at the end of dinner, the captain surprised us all and paid for everyone. It was a very nice experience.
Eventually, I will be able to catch up on everything. But I gotta be honest, I'm not motivated to do a whole lot when I get home at the end of the day.
But I am motivated to attend to this blog, and I have a great story for you. Unfortunately, there aren't really any pictures.
Saturday was the "Crew Paddle." Every summer, John and Alison take their crew out to paddle and picnic somewhere in Sitka Sound. It just so happened that there were no reservations for Saturday, so we closed up the bus and loaded John's Carolina Skiff with 4 double kayaks and 10 people. It was a tight squeeze.
The morning was overcast and a little rainy, "vegetable mister rain" as Alison calls it. We were bundled up, but riding in the skiff is always cold. We made our way out to Kruzof Island, the volcano island where we looked at some of the rock formations on the southern coast.
Kruzof on a sunny day:
After checking out the shoreline from the boat, we began looking for a spot to launch the kayaks. Unfortunately, the tide prevented us from finding a good beach for the skiff. We launched the kayaks from the boat and climbed in over the side. It sounds like a hassle, but it was actually not that bad. A few of us paddled over to a rocky beach nearby for a bathroom break. A lot of trash gets washed up on the eastern and southern coasts of Kruzof, including stuff carried along by the Japanese current. We found a few bottles with foreign writing and a life ring that said "cosco hongkong."
Back in the kayaks, we started heading east along the coast, while John and Alison followed in the skiff. After about 5 minutes, we saw two brown bears on shore. They were small, probably yearlings, and they looked skinny and hungry. We suspect that they are some yearlings that were reported a few weeks ago: their mother and a cub were killed, leaving the yearlings behind to fend for themselves. I was glad that I saw my first brown bear in the wild, but it was another reminder of the destructive and tragic relationship between humans and nature. There were more reminders to come later.
Yearling (all pictures from here out are from google):
After the bear siting, we continued to explore the coast. We paddled into a few caves that had been carved out of the cliffs. One had a halo, an opening in the ceiling, and we could see the sky and trees on the land above us.
Alison and John felt confident that we would be ok on our own, so they drove ahead of us to do some fishing. Meanwhile, we are paddling along quietly, scanning the shore for wildlife, scanning the water for marine mammals. Skeeter and I were sharing a double and we were paddling a little ahead of the group. One of our companions turned to us and said, "look behind you." We were lifted up by a swell. No harm done. But then we looked back and a second wave was coming toward us. First of all, let me say that we were paddling in an area where no waves were breaking. This really was a set of rogue waves. Anyway... I'm staring at a huge swell that looks as if it is going to curl any second. I'm having a silent freak-out inside. Skeeter turns the boat to face the wave head on, and we paddle really hard up the crest. The wave was about 30 feet from trough to crest according to one of our coworkers who was watching. The kayak is 20 ft long and apparently the wave was longer. We paddled up the wave, see-sawed over the top, and slapped down hard on the other side. Everyone was silent for about 5 seconds and then everyone laughed. Apparently the sight of our kayak teetering over the wave, Skeeter and I both airborne, was really funny. Our coworker Matt giggled about it for the rest of the day. I'm glad Alison didn't see that.
Just picture our kayak on top of this (what you get when you type "huge wave" into google):
At about 1 pm, we stopped at a beach for a campfire and picnic. Picnics with Alison are extraordinary. She brought marinated strips of chicken and beef which we skewered and roasted over the fire. We also had pasta salad with shrimp and s'mores. Yeah.
We rested and digested for a while and then continued paddling. Just off of shore, we saw the spray of a blowhole. We paddled toward it and a small grey whale sounded about 15 feet from us. I've been told that grey whales have bad breath, but I didn't smell anything.
Pacific Grey Whale:
We kayaked all the way to Shoals Point, the southeastern tip of Kruzof and kept going. We paddled to Lowe Island, a low island that is big at low tide and really small at high tide. There are kelp beds surrounding the island, so it's hard for motor boats to get close. Hundreds of harbor seals were hauled out on shore and bellied into the water when we got close. Have you ever seen a seal move on land? They scoot around on their bellies. Really funny looking. They popped their heads out of the water to look at us, then popped back down and swim a little farther away. Cute. Dead harbor seal: not cute. We saw one floating among the kelp. I think it was decapitated by a boat. Why would a predator bite the head cleanly off and leave the rest?
Harbor seal with a head:
By then, it was getting late, so we loaded the kayaks and ourselves back into the skiff. From the water. Difficult, but manageable. We had one more stop to make before we went home. We dropped off Stephanie and her boyfriend Micah on Gagarin Island. They were camping out there and then kayaking home the next day. On Bieli Rocks, beside Gagarin, we saw a sea lion. As we got closer we noticed that he had a large salmon fishing flasher hanging from his face. A fishing line was wrapped around his head. He looked really pitiful. I swear, he had that sad puppy look. Alison took a picture with her phone and I filed a report with the fish and game department. They recorded the incident, but at the moment, they have no protocol for helping entangled marine mammals. They are trying to come up with a rescue plan, but this sea lion is probably toast.
Stellar Sea Lion:
Back in the kayaks, we started heading east along the coast, while John and Alison followed in the skiff. After about 5 minutes, we saw two brown bears on shore. They were small, probably yearlings, and they looked skinny and hungry. We suspect that they are some yearlings that were reported a few weeks ago: their mother and a cub were killed, leaving the yearlings behind to fend for themselves. I was glad that I saw my first brown bear in the wild, but it was another reminder of the destructive and tragic relationship between humans and nature. There were more reminders to come later.
Yearling (all pictures from here out are from google):
After the bear siting, we continued to explore the coast. We paddled into a few caves that had been carved out of the cliffs. One had a halo, an opening in the ceiling, and we could see the sky and trees on the land above us.
Alison and John felt confident that we would be ok on our own, so they drove ahead of us to do some fishing. Meanwhile, we are paddling along quietly, scanning the shore for wildlife, scanning the water for marine mammals. Skeeter and I were sharing a double and we were paddling a little ahead of the group. One of our companions turned to us and said, "look behind you." We were lifted up by a swell. No harm done. But then we looked back and a second wave was coming toward us. First of all, let me say that we were paddling in an area where no waves were breaking. This really was a set of rogue waves. Anyway... I'm staring at a huge swell that looks as if it is going to curl any second. I'm having a silent freak-out inside. Skeeter turns the boat to face the wave head on, and we paddle really hard up the crest. The wave was about 30 feet from trough to crest according to one of our coworkers who was watching. The kayak is 20 ft long and apparently the wave was longer. We paddled up the wave, see-sawed over the top, and slapped down hard on the other side. Everyone was silent for about 5 seconds and then everyone laughed. Apparently the sight of our kayak teetering over the wave, Skeeter and I both airborne, was really funny. Our coworker Matt giggled about it for the rest of the day. I'm glad Alison didn't see that.
Just picture our kayak on top of this (what you get when you type "huge wave" into google):
At about 1 pm, we stopped at a beach for a campfire and picnic. Picnics with Alison are extraordinary. She brought marinated strips of chicken and beef which we skewered and roasted over the fire. We also had pasta salad with shrimp and s'mores. Yeah.
We rested and digested for a while and then continued paddling. Just off of shore, we saw the spray of a blowhole. We paddled toward it and a small grey whale sounded about 15 feet from us. I've been told that grey whales have bad breath, but I didn't smell anything.
Pacific Grey Whale:
Harbor seal with a head:
By then, it was getting late, so we loaded the kayaks and ourselves back into the skiff. From the water. Difficult, but manageable. We had one more stop to make before we went home. We dropped off Stephanie and her boyfriend Micah on Gagarin Island. They were camping out there and then kayaking home the next day. On Bieli Rocks, beside Gagarin, we saw a sea lion. As we got closer we noticed that he had a large salmon fishing flasher hanging from his face. A fishing line was wrapped around his head. He looked really pitiful. I swear, he had that sad puppy look. Alison took a picture with her phone and I filed a report with the fish and game department. They recorded the incident, but at the moment, they have no protocol for helping entangled marine mammals. They are trying to come up with a rescue plan, but this sea lion is probably toast.
Stellar Sea Lion:
WAHHHHHHHHHH!
Then we went home, put all the gear away, and Skeeter and I made pancakes. Talk to you soon!
I love your stories~this sounds like such a cool experience!! Miss you!
ReplyDelete