Life List:
Wild Alaska by boat
Peacefulness embraces the "Galaxy" as we anchor in a secluded cove.
Secluded Coves
We soon discovered that one of the joys of being on a small boat is spending the night in secluded coves, where you are totally immersed in the wilderness of Alaska. It was not unusual during our two-week trip to be all alone, though usually we shared the waters with a handful of other boaters. Add the wildlife, and this experience can’t be beat.
One of those uninhabited spots is the aptly named Pleasant Bay. A rocky shoreline creeps up to a grassy meadow, thick woods and mountains. We’re entertained by bald eagles hunting the flipping and flopping salmon that have claimed this spot. We delightedly count half a dozen eagles on the shoreline. We also glimpse our first brown bear, a youngster sauntering along the beach, no doubt interested in those salmon.
After a dinner of hearty stew, Scott and I decide to row ashore and do some exploring. Two eagles are perched atop a rocky outcropping at the mouth of the bay, so we walk in that direction to try our luck with photos. In the end, we spook them and they fly away. Scott turns to show his chagrin and we simultaneously realize we are being watched by a Sitka black-tailed deer. It flicks its tail and ducks into the tall grass. We follow and as we reach the high point of the peninsula, we see a rocky coastline stretching into the distance. It’s a perfect spot for a photo of us on our adventure, so we set up the shot and take a few. With the eagles gone, our attention is drawn to some mew gulls, and they pose for a few photos.
We are so immersed in the experience that is Alaska, it’s like being swallowed into the
space of time and
being.
Light is fading fast and the tide is coming up, so we head back before our route along the shore disappears beneath the sea. A sharp sound like a gunshot startles us. We turn and see a whale breaching next to where we’d been standing on the point. Well, that’s nature for you. Always ready to tease you, rarely available for that perfect photo. Now I know why photographers spend hours on end in one location, hoping for that lucky break. A fishing boat motors into our cove as night falls, but we don’t hear a peep from them. We feel as if we have the cove to ourselves.
We wake to a quiet morning. Clouds drape themselves across the mountains, it’s a bit overcast, but we’re glad to see it’s not raining. The fishing boat that came in last night is already gone. We watch 10 eagles line up along the shoreline for their morning breakfast hunt.
As the days pass, it becomes more and more difficult to remember what day it is. If we didn’t have the ship’s log to refer to, we’d be clueless. But time really seems unimportant here. Seconds blur into minutes, minutes into hours, mornings into afternoons into evenings. We are so immersed in the experience that is Alaska, it’s like being swallowed into the space of time and being.
First Day | Fiords, Glaciers and Icebergs | Secluded Coves
Steller Sea Lions | Bears, Bears and More Bears
Fishing Villages and Hot Springs | Harbor Seals
Rainforests, High-Alpine Lakes and Beaches
A Whale of a Tale | Epilogue | Your Turn: Charter a Yacht
Alaska Photo Galleries