Ideal Cove and Petersburg

Monday brought more rain. But spirits were still pretty good. The day's schedule was packed, as usual. 

We spent the overnight and early morning moving through Fredrick Sound. After breakfast, we donned gear and headed for hikes at Ideal Cove.

 The daily map.

Spectacular scenery. I never got tired of it. 

Here we are! Turns out the guides had never seen a tide this low here and the beach this muddy. We really put our boots to work this morning. 

Most of the trees here are Sitka spruce and western hemlock. I wanted to bring back some spruce tip syrup but wasn't able to find it. The moss on the trees reminded me of parts of Florida. This is all part of the Tongass National Forest. It's the largest temperate rainforest in the world, covering more than 500 miles of southeast Alaska. It's also the largest national forest in the U.S. and home to about 70,000 people. Really. 

The hikes followed these paths, most of which had netting to help with the slippery conditions. There were lots of steps, some steep. The boardwalk is narrow and in some places, there's a little bit of a drop. This took a lot of work to plan and install, and someone clearly has to maintain it. It's spectacular. 

One of many interesting mushroom/fungi species we saw along the way. 

Bunch cherries. They are a bit sour. Of course, if a naturalist passes something around and asks if we want to try it, I'm always ready. We had wild blueberries too. Yum! 

So many ferns and beautiful green plants! I do need a plant/tree ID class. But while Oregon and Washington were in drought and battling huge fires, southeast Alaska was abundantly green and wet. 

Devil's club, so called because under the leaves and down the stem are spikes. This plant is about four or five feet tall, so when people lose their balance, it's a natural thing to grab. Watch out! 

 I was trailing the medium hike this day. There was a long hike, a medium hike, a leisurely hike, and a photo walk. Here's the group heading back to the (now reasonable) beach to catch the zodiacs back to the ship. One of the guides was doing a lecture about Northwest Coast art and culture, and then there would be lunch.

Loading the zodiacs back onto the ship. 

 The harbor in Petersburg, on Mitkof Island. This was our one port stop during the tour, and it's a truly lovely little town. Only about 2,800 people live here year-round.

Petersburg is a fishing town, and is also known as Little Norway. 

Founded more than 100 years ago by a Norwegian fisherman, many Scandinavians settled here. This hall is built on one of the piers. The cannery in town has been in continuous operation.  

Norwegian toll painting decorates many of the city buildings. 

And this is Tlingit country. Evidence of Native habitation goes back a long time. This was a Native fishing area long before the Scandinavians founded the city. 

I love when there is an effort to explain culture to visitors. These signs illustrate the carvings on the totem poles and provide some context and explanation. 

The base of the pole is killer whale, my favorite. I was so hoping we'd see some orcas on this trip! That's been a life-long dream.... 

Downtown Petersburg the main street. Charming. I'd been instructed to go to the hardware store and a shop called Lee's. The hardware store supplies many of the fishermen with their gear, so they have solid stuff. I was hoping they could fix my watch. They sent me to the drugstore across the street, and they did fix it. I also sent a postcard home to Mom from there. At Lee's, I managed to get everything else that I needed, replacement gear for what I'd left behind or for what was failing, and most of it was on sale too: waterproof jacket, extra fleece, thermal bottoms, waterproof pants, another hat, and waterproof gloves. I was a happy girl! And I'm extra-ready now for the next excursion trip, hint hint.

Tile on the sidewalk. 

One of the banners touting the city's heritage. There were some great coffee shops, a lovely book store, a terrific little art gallery, and while I missed it, apparently a good library. Hmmm, maybe I could live here?

There's a five-mile loop around town and there were bikes and helmets ready for us to use if we wanted to explore this way. There were also walking tours, an aerobic hike and muskeg bog walks, as well as a dock walk to explore the fishing area and the tidal zone critters. I wanted to do all of those, of course, but gear fixes were the first order of business. Then I just had so much fun exploring the town that I missed the hikes! It was also the perfect opportunity to catch up on emails, both office and personal. I was sitting outside doing just that when the rain started pouring down again.

Petersburg is a major fishing center. It regularly ranks in the top 15 most lucrative in the U.S. Wow. And apparently a lot of The Deadliest Catch (filming? boats? I'm not sure) comes from here. 

 This fishing boat was parked right next to our ship. And the crew was on board preparing the nets. Lucky for me the captain decided to chat. So I had permission to take a few photos. This time of year they are mostly fishing for salmon. 

Pretty boat. I was just fascinated.

Once back to our ship, there really wasn't much time before recap, so I opted for a nice warm shower. I think folks were pleased to have seen the sun for a bit during the day, as well as to have had a chance to wander a lovely little town.