Ideal Cove, near the southeast corner of Mitkof Island and the southern terminus of Frederick Sound, offers an entry into a magnificent section of Southeast Alaska’s temperate rain forest. A bit of fog, low clouds, and drizzle gave way to high thin clouds by the beginning of our outings. The ocean’s brownish tint came from the Stikine River, the major drainage in this area, ending its flow through its nearby delta. Distant and scattered, icebergs from the LeConte Glacier were seen in the embayment to the north.
The forest is composed of greens upon greens upon greens. Seemingly endless shades. Skunk cabbage, shooting stars, bog orchids, salmonberry, and rosy twisted stalk were among the many flowers in bloom. Nurse logs abound. Some lucky hikers saw a river otter.
This afternoon, National Geographic Sea Bird made her way to the small harbor in Petersburg where captain Coughlin deftly brought us in to the very tight space at the dock. Petersburg proudly displays its Norwegian heritage. Walking into town, we cross over Hammer Slough, pass the Bojer Wilkan Fisherman’s Memorial that memorializes those lost at sea, make our way past the Sons of Norway Hall as we head to Nordic Drive, the main street in town.
The afternoon found us going in many directions. We bicycled around the perimeter of town, hiked in a muskeg, flew over the LeConte glacier, walked along the dock to learn about commercial fishing or to concentrate on photography, checked out gift shops and amazing hardware stores, visited the local museum of human and natural history… For the younger folks there was a scavenger hunt that ended at the local ice cream shop. There is plenty to do in this fishing oriented town of a bit more than 3,000 people.
