Going through the 1,200 photographs I took earlier this month from spending ten days out on the water. There is some pretty good stuff, and a lot of OK stuff. Time to assemble another video, but first I have to find a piece of music for it.
Fishing boats under sodium lamps haunt the Tenakee docks
A cooler full of salmon, halibut and crab. What to do? We will be eating a lot of fish for the next few months.
Time to try some new recipes… The salmon tacos were pretty good, using pan fried pink salmon. The best so far was the king salmon, mesquite grilled with olive oil and Parmesan cheese on top. Add some grilled asparagus on the side for a meal. Need to thank Tony for that recipe.
Grilled salmon and asparagus
Scarcely a day goes by without seeing whales. Usually they are Humpbacks busily feeding in the rich Alaskan waters. But there are other whales to be seen, Orca are not common, but every trip we have seen a few. Most sightings are fairly distant, a tail on the horizon, the white plume of a blow. Close encounters will happen, a Humpback swimming by while you are anchored, a pod of Orca cruising down the same shore you are cruising up. Sometimes the whale appears when you least expect it, a sudden blow just off the bow. Cut the engine and drift, enjoying the view while giving the whale a chance to move off.
An Orca (Orcinus orca) cruising in Icy Strait, Alaska
A small chunk of ice makes a perfect resting place for Arctic Terns. Somehow these beautiful birds fit both their name and the place. Looking as if they are made of ice themselves, grey with white and black markings, these birds just fit the environment.
A group of Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea) resting on a small iceberg in Glacier Bay, Alaska
A mother Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) and cub on the shore in Long Bay, Tenakee Inlet, AK
Near midsummer in Alaska the sunsets are quite late and seem to last forever. In SE Alaska we are not north of the Arctic Circle, the Sun will set, if only for a few hours. It is the long twilight that really has an effect on the psyche. A sunset that seems to last for hours. Actually, it does last for hours…
Looking north to Taylor Bay from Mite Cove on a late Alaskan evening
A small lake above a remote bay on Kruzof Island, Alaska. A mile long hike through the rain forest and muskeg to climb to the shoreline. Rocks covered with moss and dwarf tress line the northern shore, creating vignettes any master Japanese gardener would treasure.
Rocks on the shore of an unnamed lake above Kalinin Bay, Alaska
Small towns and settlements clustered along the water. With no roads, travel by water is the only way to reach these destinations in rural southeast Alaska. The sea provides either a highway or a runway for a float plane, making the docks the focal point of any town. This is where everyone arrives or departs, part of the life in this part of the world.
The 42′ Nordic Tug, Chrisara, docked in Elfin Cove, Alaska, 30 June 2004
Summer in Alaska the local flora explodes extravagantly. Taking advantage if the long days and short growing season the plants grown and bloom with a richness not often seen further south. A walk along a trail in the Alaskan forests and meadows offers plenty of opportunities to use a camera to capture the scene. Something I hope to be doing, stopping and photographing the flowers…
An extravagant bloom of a wildflower, Alaska, 4 July 2004
The Alaskan rain forest is as rich in life as any tropical rain forest. A vibrant palette of life is visible wherever you look. Water in plenty means that everything grows, at least during the summer. All the plants seem to be in a rush to accomplish the tasks of life before winter comes again.
A detail of rich foliage under the trees in Elfin Cove, Alaska
