July 11

Left Klag bay at 7am to take advantage of the typically nicer ocean conditions in the morning.

Saw a doe and fawn on the beach on the way out. The weather was nice enough that I sat out on flying bridge for the ride to Salisbury sound. Very flat calm, a little sunny, high overcast. It was kind of cool, but a pleasant place to ride.

Through the passage out of Klag bay heard Winter wrens, Varied and Hermit thrushes, and watched a Common merganser flying through the trees around the point. It never landed while I was watching.

A few sea lions and one harbor seal near exit from the passage out of Klag bay.

The ocean was beautifully calm. It was a nice way to finish the trip. There were a few birds on the horizon, fewer Marbled murrelets, Pelagic cormorants, Common murres, one Parasitc jaeger. Also saw a few sea otters (one with a pup) and 3 humpbacks near Potato patch on Khaz head.

One Rhinoceros auklet and Red necked phalaropes in Salisbury Sound.

Made it back to town around 2pm(?). The boats went to the fuel dock before settling in Eliason Harbor. I was kind of sorry to be disembarking. It had been a very interesting trip and the boat had started to feel like home.

July 10

Left Pelican at 7am for Klag Bay. We left at the early hour because the weather was supposed to kick up a bit in the afternoon and we had some unprotected waters to cross.

We traveled via Lisianski inlet then strait and to the open ocean. Saw Red-necked phalaropes in the strait. The ocean conditions were a little rough at the entrance, we freely indulged in candied ginger and decided to take the more circuitous course took a behind several rocks (Porcupine Rocks) to avoid some of the less than perfect ocean conditions. Nice to have accurate GPS. Saw a few sea otters, White-winged scoters, a few Pigeon guillemots, Common murres, Pelagic cormorants, 4 Ancient murrelets and a rather large number of Marbled murrelets.

Took Imperial pass to Portlock Harbor. I remembered seeing hundreds of sea otters in this area in the past and was surprised to see very few (10) animals. I shouldn't have been surprised that things change over the years. It was nice traveling through the passages of West Chichagof again. We did find a small raft of otters in Ogden passage and saw a Brown bear in the estuary at Black Bay. We didn't travel through rough or smooth passage to the gate to Klag bay, but instead went through the beginning of the elbow. Not a path that I've taken previously.

Found at least 100 marbled murrelets in the bay as well as a few otters. We were almost to the anchorage in front of the old mine site when we found a bit of shallow water. Okay very shallow water. In fact, the boat stopped moving entirely, we were aground (about 112:15pm). Fortunately we were going slow and the tide was just about at the minimum level. The bottom was soft with eelgrass and mud. Okay, I packed my laptop and camera in my backpack and put on my boots. I wasn't really sure about what would happen next. How thin in the hull on a fiberglass boat? or was an important through hull fitting damaged? It wasn't exactly panic, but I thought it made sense to be prepared.

It was a bit embarrassing for the crew of the lead boat to find ourselves aground and one of the other boat captains immediately took advantage of the situation. The real comedy came from the boat with a weaker command of english. The italians had no idea why we had changed our plans about where to anchor, but they were going to follow our lead and join us in our cosy spot. Fortunately, the right words (and speed of delivery) were chosen to convey the facts of the situation before Lorenzo managed to ground his boat as well.

David did a dive without tanks and inspected the hull, he didn't find anything obviously wrong with the hull or with the props or stabilizers. The water was about chest deep on the shore side of the boat, he had to swim on the deeper side. Another good sign was that the bilge was clear of water. Jordan was confident that the boat would refloat without a problem as soon as the tide came in. I was impressed by the calm. There may have been some internal strong reactions but everyone was quite cool.

It was decided to send me and little Jordan to shore to lead the other boat crews on a hike around the old Chichagof mine site. Interesting choice, since I had only been to the mine once and he had never been there. It was a scary number of years since the last time I was on shore in this part of Klag bay. The last time I was here, there was a small crew of miners from eastern Europe working the mine. Only one building is still standing (where the last crew lived) and it was in very bad condition. It doesn't look habitable at this point. There was still an interesting collection of sinks, toilets, water lines and misc. household goods in the young forest. We walked the rail lines in search of one of the mine openings. That plan didn't work, found the tailing pile instead. Decided to head uphill, but didn't go far, as the new growth became older mixed cedar forest at about 4ooft. Sidehilled and went down a ways. LJ and I were happy to wander around looking, but the rest of the party wasn't too familiar with the idea of wandering around in the woods without a trail. They had all given up and were starting down, when LJ wandered over one last creek and saw some machinery. There was a variety of equipment from the 1980s on a gravel deck in front of a gated mine entrance. The gate wasn't terribly functional in terms of keeping interested people out, harrassment was a much more effective deterent. It turned out that the mine entrance was much closer to the beach than we had known. The easiest path was just west of the standing cabin and up a short gravel road.

The plant life wasn't very diverse in the ruins, but I did enjoy seeing the maidenhair ferns in the tailing piles. Mostly young spruce and a few species of moss (alas I didn't note which ones, but nothing unusual). Near the cabin we did find a couple of Nootka roses (may have been planted?) and many blooming foxgloves. Looked around for other domestic looking plants, but didn't find any other signs of a garden.

The boat floated free at 2:50pm. Emmelina put on the complete dive gear and did a more thorough inspection of the hull and moving parts. All seemed fine.

July 9th

Almost sunny as we departed Elfin Cove at 8am for Pelican. We had a nice view of Brady Glacier, Cape Spencer light and the peaks of the Fairweathers as we departed.

Cruised into Port Althorp on the way in search of sea otters. We did find 3 deer and a Great Blue Heron in the estuary. Harlequins, Porpoise and sea otters, some with pups, in the bay.

Looked like there was an active mine claim in Port Althorp. At least I assume that it is a mine claim We could see a large pile of gravel, a barge, and several buildings that looked like they were in use. Given the number of mineral claims in the northwestern part of Chichagof, it is probably reasonable to assume that is what is going on.

It was very calm traveling around the corner into Lisianski inlet. Lots of Glaucous winged gulls, Kittiwakes, Marbled murrelets, several Pigeon guillemots and Pelagic Cormorants, 2 Tufted Puffins, 1 Double crested Cormorants on the bit of outside water. The bird sightings thinned out considerably as we traveled through Lisiansky inlet. Did see two more deer on the Chichagof island shore. Noticed that there was alot of snow on Yakobi Island and Chichagof islands at the 1000 to 1200 ft level.

Tied up at the Pelican dock around noon. Shortly after tieing up, I saw a beautiful little skiff rowing into the harbor. The most unique feature (that was immediately noticable) of the skiff was a collie figurehead. Turned out that the couple in the skiff was Eric and Pam Bealer. I had talked to the storekeeper in Elfin Cove about Eric's prints and mentioned that I was traveling to Pelican the next day and thought it would be interesting to meet him and see any new prints he had on hand. She sent an email relaying what I had told her and apparently it was a town day for the Bealers, so I was in luck.

They live about 3 to 3.5 miles east of town on a small piece of property with a large garden and some stock animals. They moved to Alaska from Vermont about 14 years ago, first settling in Haines, then in Pelican when they found this property. Both Pam and Eric seem quite dedicated to developing a connection with this place and the inhabitatants (of all kinds). I asked about problems with deer and bears in their garden or with the chickens etc. He is fairly convinced that mindful practices and respect for the animals and their habitat has prevented any problems, as they haven't had any to speak of.

Just for example, they bury the herring eggs in the garden (only had a bear visit when he was too tired one day to bury them in one area), and feed any suitable kitchen scaps to the chickens instead of composting them. They also don't have a smokehouse for fish. On a side not, it was interesting to confirm that there is consistant herring spawning in Liskianski.

The chickens are in an enclosed space with one side that opens for fresh air. The enclosed space seems to preclude problems with mink and weasels.

They have had weasels liviing in the barn and under the shed, but apparently haven't had any trouble with them, except for the smell. I enjoyed their stories about watching the juvenile weasels playing in the sun by the sheds. They were kind of amazed that I hadn't seen one before this summer.

They are very dedicated to growing their own food, storing it for the winter and not buying much from the store. Maybe more dedicated than I could pull off. Eric told me a story about cooking dinner the week before. They were out of carrots and potatoes from last summer and weren't going to buy any of lesser quality from the store, so the stew was rather meat rich. They would just as soon wait until their crops are in and do without. I probably would have compromised, but they seem rather happy with their choices.

I wish that I could have seen their garden, it sounds rather productive. At least it seems so when the weather is kinder. A couple of issues that they are having with crops: thrips (?) in the apple flowers and potato scab. Hadn't heard of thrips causing a problem with apples here previously. I suspect that a change in apple variety might help the apple production. Scab is just a pain around here.

Developing a connection is also how Eric approaches his art. Both in his "serious" landscape/animal prints and in the more amusing posters he produces for the Boardwalk Boogie. He seems rather dedicated to experience of the process rather than necessarily focusing on the product. Actually both of them seem to agree on this, but Eric was the most vocal.

The skiff is homebuilt from local spruce. He found naturally bent pieces of wood to use where the boat required it instead of steam bending to get the curves. Aside from the planer, the boat was built with hand tools. The boat is named for a collie's named Luna, who served as the model for the figurehead.

Beside gardening, found out that we share an interest in birds. Pam told me about a mockingbird that they had in the field last year and have since learned about a kingbird that is visiting this year.

I managed to repay them a bit for the afternoon, by taking a box of prints for the Rose Gallery. Seemed like the least I could do.

Spent the rest of the day wandering around Pelican, the weather was pretty nice through the evening. I did stick my head in Rosie's Bar, but didn't feel the need to stay long.

July 8th

Elfin Cove

High overcast with a bit of rain in the morning which carried on all day.
Emmelina, Jordan, Liz and I hiked up the waterline trail to the muskegs above Elfin Cove. We were under the impression that the waterline originated in a lake and went in search of it. The trail was narrow, wet and muddy. The mud was deep enough that we lost the 5th member of the group very early in the walk. I considered finding my own trail, but the slope was pretty cliffy and stayed with the group. The forest was a mix of Yellow cedar, western and a few mountain hemlock. The shrubs were blueberry, Menziesia, and some Copperbush. Found one Viburnum edule and one European Mountain Ash. Thelypteris limbosperma was relatively common along the trail.

As we gained altitude, there were more muskeg-like openings in the forest as well as lots of rock outcrops. The rock looked like some sort of Granite.

Blooming in the muskegs at the lower summit/bench were Dodecatheon jeffreyii, Nephrophyllidium crista-galli , Coptis trifoliata, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Pinquicula vulgaris, Vaccinium uliginosum, and Eriophorum angustifolium.

Jordan and Emmelina turned back at the bench as they had a variety of errands to do, but Liz and I carried on.

We left the trail and continued on in hope of finding a lake (soon after this we found out there wasn't a lake to find). We were disabused of the lake notion by a phone call from Mary Jo Wild. She had my cell phone number in order to arrange a museum visit in the afternoon and called to confirm. Decided to ask her about the "lake", got a laugh and the straight scoop. The water line comes out of a water tank which we didn't think sounded quite as interesting to seek out.

There was one small meadowish area near a very small stream with Viola langsdorfii, Frittilaria camschatcensis, Dodecatheon jeffreyii, Rubus arcticus, Erigeron peregrinus, and several Athyrium filix-femina. We dropped down into a creek in a small ravine, found Petasites frigidus and Caltha leptosepala, both were done blooming.

We intially missed the trail on the way down, but relocated it by side-hilling. We were anxious to find it again as we wanted to miss the gnarly looking cliffs we had seen on the way up.

After the hike we were visited the tiny, but interesting Elfin Cove museum. What made it so interesting was the personal tour that we were given. Mary Jo Wild seems to have been the driving force behind the creation of the museum. She tells a good story, an often very poignant one about her life in Elfin cove.

Elifn Cove isn't an incorporated city, but a non-profit corporation connected by a boardwalk. There is a small grocery store, a post office, fuel dock, a cafe, 8 charter lodges and two harbor areas and a power (small hydro plant). 12 people spent the winter in Elfin Cove last year. There are only two children (1 was born a couple of months ago). The school closed because of low enrollment (0 at this point). I met the mother of the two kids on the boardwalk and she is actively trying to recruit immigrants with children so that the school will open in time for her kids to attend school.

The garbage disposal method is pragmatic, but not pleasant. Every day someone burns the refuse on the beach by the harbor. The smell of garbage burning is exactly what one would expect, bad. What won't burn gets dumped off shore.

Lots of ranunuculus repens along the boardwalk.

July 7


Left Reid Glacier at 8am bound for Elfin Cove vis South Marble Island. On the way out of the bay, passed several Arctic Terns on smallish ice bergs, Kittiwakes, Kittlitz and Marbled murrelets, and Tufted puffins near the mouth of Reid inlet.
South Marble island is a sea lion haul-out (Buster Hoffmaster shared his photo) and a sea bird breeding site. There are other similar sites in the park, but this is the only one that boats can approach as close as 50 yards.
Nesting birds reported from South Marble include: Glaucous-winged gulls (1999 minimum of 570 pairs), Pigeon Guillemots, Black-legged kittiwakes, Black Oystercatchers, Common and Thick-billed murres, Tufted and Horned Puffins, and Pelagic Cormorants. We managed to find all of the reported birds, plus Bald eagles and alot of mew gulls. We saw the one Horned puffin as it flew by the boat.
Found a few documents on the nesting birds of Marble island including this kind of entertaining report on Pigeon Guillemots.
http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/seabird_foragefish/products/reports/pigugu~1.pdf

I was kind of curious if there was any allowed harvest of Glaucous-winged gulls eggs from this island. Couldn't find anything in the park literature that addressed the question, but did finally find an answer in the posted regulations.
May 15 to June 30th Glaucous winged gull egg harvest is allowed by the Community of Hoonah (Harvest area: National Forest lands in Icy Strait and Cross Sound, including Middle Pass Rock near the Inian Islands, Table Rock in Cross Sound, and other traditional locations on the coast of Yakobi Island. The land and waters of Glacier Bay National Park remain closed to all subsistence harvesting [50 CFR Part 100.3]. (i)

Searching for the regs turned up this article in Current Anthropology on traditional environmental knowledge of the Huna Tlingit regarding sustainable Glaucous-winged gull egg harvest.
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/377666

Huna Tlingit Traditional Environmental Knowledge, Conservation, and the Management of a “Wilderness” Park1 by Eugene S. Hunn, Darryll R. Johnson, Priscilla N. Russell, and Thomas F. Thornton


"A study of Huna Tlingit traditional gull-egg harvests in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, indicates that local traditional environmental knowledge includes a sophisticated appreciation of glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) nesting biology and behavior—in particular, an understanding of this gull as an indeterminate layer with a modal clutch size of three. The community has applied knowledge to the design of sustainable egg-harvesting strategies. The dominant strategy is to take eggs from nests with one or two eggs but leave nests with three or more; an alternative strategy advocates partial harvests from three-egg clutches. "


http://www.nps.gov/glba/naturescience/upload/Hunn_etal2007_GullEggHarvests.pdf

Found another related article (probably the same one, but with a different purpose) by the same people.
Huna Tlingit Gull Egg Harvests in Glacier Bay National Park
Eugene S. Hunn1, Darryll R. Johnson, Priscilla N. Russell, Thomas F. Thornton
http://www.nps.gov/glba/naturescience/upload/Hunn_etal2007_GullEggHarvests.pdf

The last section of the article was on management implications of the harvest

"Evidence to assess the impact of a given harvest practice over the long haul is rarely available. Thus, if subsistence egg harvests by Huna in Glacier Bay were to be legalized, there would remain considerable uncertainty with respect to the sustainability and appropriate scale of such harvests. The Glacier Bay National Park administration is in a difficult position; on the one hand charged to protect for all Americans Glacier Bay as a premier “wilderness” park, while on the other hand, recognizing that Huna Tlingit people have a legitimate interest in managing resources that constitute the material and symbolic foundation of their community. Park staff has worked with the Huna community since the completion of our study to help arrange the harvest of gull eggs at a small colony outside of the Park at Middle Pass Rock in Icy Straits, which has allowed elders and young people from the community to experience this traditional subsistence practice without fear of arrest for the first time in decades. However, the Middle Pass Rock colony is subject to stronger currents and wave action than is the case at the Marble Islands and thus is not safe for younger children. If the legal obstacles to the resumption of Huna Tlingit harvests in Glacier Bay can be resolved, the administrative details of a truly cooperative
management effort will still need to be hammered out, in the face of stiff opposition by those committed to the notion of parks as “wilderness,” on the one hand, and by indigenous
activists on the other who reject as illegitimate any federal presence in their traditional homeland."

Have to admit that I probably would have been in the camp of keep the park as a wilderness without any harvest of much of anything at one time in my life, but feel rather differently these days. It seems reasonable that a small, sustainable harvest could be allowed, but can see the difficulty of working out the details of that one.

We saw a multitude of humpbacks between Gustavus point and Lemesurier island.
Proceeded out of the park and west through the passes to Elfin cove. At the east side of Lemesurier Island the fleet passed by two sea otters eating an octopus. They let us pass very close by, perhaps reluctant to risk losing their large meal. We couldn't tell exactly how large the octopus had been, but it didn't look particularly small. The otters were about 4-5 ft apart in the water. This pair were chewing on the legs and less often on the membranes of the head. Apparently octopus eating isn't unusual, in fact some otters prefer a diet of big molluscs if they can get it.

Between Lemesurier and Inian islands found a small group of Ancient murrelets mixed in with the Marbled ones. The white neck area stands out pretty clearly.

Arrived at Elfin Cove around 6pm.

July 6

After the wind died down in Reid Inlet we moved back aboard Deception and went ashore. I was pretty anxious to see the plants that were growing near the glacier, in fact I was almost ready to swim by the time we were able to go.

We first went to the eastern shore which was closest to the boat. Found Shephardia canadensis, several willows, Dryas drummondii with fruit and Hedysarum alpinum.

Shortly after we started walking on the beach, the Black-legged Kittiwakes started dive bombing us. We didn't see any young Kittiwakes in the area. We did see Semi-palmated plover adults and chicks amongst the Dryas.

Also was able to get fairly close to a pair of Oystercatchers on the beach. Again I didn't see any young or a nest, but we didn't look for long as we were trying to escape the Kittiwakes and avoid stepping on any nests.

We went across to the other side of the glacier to meet the other folks who wanted to see the ice up close. I wandered off looking for more plants and birds. I was told that there were Snow buntings in the area last year.

No luck on the buntings, but I did see several American Pipits and Golden crowned

sparrows amongst the willows.

Plants on the west side included: Dryas drummondii (blooming), Chamerion latifolium, Pyrola chlorantha, Antennaria, ARabis hirsuta, Hedysarum alpinum and 5 species of willows and a ground cover of Philonotis fontana in the seeps.

Found pink macomas on the beach and a reasonable amount of Fucus. Impressive in the silty, cold water.

On the way back to the boat, passed a small flock of Harelequins.

July 6

Left Bartlett cove at 8am aboard the Arctic Dream, traveling up bay along the west side of Willoughby, Francis and Drake islands to Tarr Inlet.

It was rainy and the ceiling was fairly low for an hour or so. The low clouds made the ice bergs appear rather ghostly. We started to see ice bergs near Blue Mouse Cove, they were traveling down bay with the tide. Some of the bergs were black with sediment, others very clear of debris. Given how dark with sediment and rock the Grand Pacific Glacier is, I suspect that the darkest bergs are from that glacier, but I'm not sure. We had great views of the Lamplugh, Reid, John Hopkins, Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers on the trip up the west arm of the bay.

Lamplugh Glacier

Lamplugh Glacier is a stable or slowly retreating glacier. It is 16 miles long, 3/4 of a mile wide and moves 1,200 ft each year. It was named after an British geologist, George Lamplugh, 1859-1926 who visited the bay in 1884.

We stopped moving up bay around the Margerie Glacier as the ice was very thick in the water. I was wishing that we had a steel hull instead of fiberglass. The path through the ice would close and open as we approached the glacier, the photo was taken at a relatively ice berg free moment.

The folded appearing sediment and ice in the face of the Margerie glacier was pretty interesting. I' m assuming that the eye shape was formed by folding of layers of ice and sediment,

Margerie Glacier

but I suppose that it could have been formed in other ways. Perhaps a large fissure was formed and one side collapsed on the other? I suppose that the folding could occur as the glacier moved through a narrower point of resistant rock?

The Margerie is a stable glacier, niether receding or advancing. It towers about 250ft above the water line, and to 100ft below it. The glacier is 21 miles long and one mile wide. It was named after Emmanuel de Margerie 1862-1953, a french geologist, who visited the bay in 1913. Both the Margerie and Lamplugh were named by Lawrence Martin of the USGS. There was a cliff adjacent to the Margerie is a large Kittiwake breeding colony. Every tiny bit of a ledge seemed like it had a bird sitting on it. Apparently Horned and Tufted puffins, Arctic Terns and Glaucuous winged gulls also nest on the cliffs. There is a bit of a discussion of this colony at the following website http://www.inforain.org/glacierbay/CATALOG/HTM/ICEEDGE.HTM

The Grand Pacific Glacier was named by John Muir in 1879. Apparently when Muir named it, the glacier it was joined with what would be called the John Hopkins and the Reid glaciers. In 1892, after recession had seperated the glaciers, Muir retained the name Grand Pacific for the largest and most northerly arm and named the middle arm John Hopkins. The Reid was named by the Harriman Expedition in 1899.

The wind started to pick up so we backtracked to anchor in Reid inlet. The wind was pretty fierce (35 kts) off the glacier in the afternoon. Fortunately it died down in the evening.

Saw what I presume to have been a female (mom) bear and an older cub (2 years?) along the beach at Russell island. She was pretty intently investigating something on the beach, while the other bear sat and watched. After a few minutes she went up into the brush and a few minutes later the younger one followed.

According to the Park visitor's guide the Reid Glacier is about 9.5 miles long and flows about 800ft each year. It is slowly receding, but is still quite close to being a tidewater glacier. The face varies from 20 to 130 ft above the water line.

The photo was taken just before low tide in the evening.

What was really striking for me in Glacier bay was being able to see the shape of the land without vegetation. I'm only accustomed to seeing relatively bare rock if the temperature, slope or water level is preventing establishment of much vegetation. This isn't a great photo, but the active fan and incised slopes are quite easy to see. There are plenty of places in Tenakee Inlet or Hoonah sound that look like this if one adds some rain forest. Interesting to see the land before the vegetation really takes hold.

Finally saw what I could positively say was a Kittlitz's murrelet. We saw several. They are distinctly lighter, more golden in color and much more difficult to see against the silty water. There were also a multitude of Marbled murrelets, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Glaucous winged and Bonaparte's gulls, Arctic Terns and a few Pigeon Guillemots.

July 5th



Last night the lodge was awash with rumors of Harrison Ford. How could I sleep?


As we were staying in Bartlett Cove for another night, Martin, Ingrid and I decided to walk the the trail to Bartlett Lake. Brave of me in my wellies to chase after a pair of "fast walkers" in trainers. I was fulfilling my role as a colorful semi-local with my fashionable attire and was duly photographed.




The trail wandered along a moraine through mature spruce/western hemlock forest. The area was under ice in 1794 and the oldest trees were around 200 years old according to an article I found. The trees weren't even aged and there were standing dead and live trees with polypores. The stand did have more Sitka spruce than Western hemlock, relatively few shrubs (Vaccinium and Oplopanax), alot of moss and a variable amount of herbs. The herbs along the trail included; Rubus pedatus, Cornus canadensis, Goodyera oblongifolia, Pyrola asarifolia, Orthilia secunda, Moneses uniflora, and Listera cordata (a few sites with L. caurina). More Lobaria in the trees than I usually see in Sitka forests. Preference for Sitka spruce as host? The other difference was the predominance of Ganoderma applanatum instead of Fomitopsis. One large polypore was about 1.5 ft across.


The tree stocking is relatively dense, but the trees aren't that large. The topography is relatively flat and the till could be limiting drainage, the result of both of these factors could be a less productive site for trees. There are some small gaps in the overstory, which would allow light to the forest floor, but not alot.

There were several kettle ponds along the trail, these had Equisetum fluviatile, E. arvense, Platanthera dilatata, Menyanthes trifoliata and Nuphar polysepalum.

One odd thing about the trail was the prescence of old cottonwood leaves along the trail. We spent alot of time looking for cottonwood trees, but couldn't find any nearby in the forest. We did find a few cottonwoods around the lake, but none closer.

Ate lunch at the lake and decided to walk around (actually Martin decided to walk around and Ingrid and I followed).

The lake edge was often a mat of floating sphagnum, inboard of that was Equisetum arvense and Eriophorum chamissonis. The equisetum continued for a distance under the trees, kind of a unique sight for me.

Also found several bright yellow slime molds on moss and on the base of one tree. They could be Fuligo septica, but I'm not to sure about that identification.

Found 3 spindly Viburnum edule just landward of the sphagnum mat. I expected to see more Highbush cranberry around the lake as I associate it with both that habitat and the mainland.

We continued around the lake, walking was pretty easy as there weren't alot of shrubs.

On the far side of the lake we found several interesting things. The first was several Shephardia canadensis (Soapberry or Buffaloberry). This shrub is relativelly easy to recognize because of the opposite leaves which have small brownish rust scales on the underside. I haven't seen this shrub often in southeast, the other spot that comes to mind is up the Wright river (Taku Inlet) in a forest dominated by Subalpine fir. Shephardia is another shrub associated with nitrogen fixing actinomycetes (Frankia).

The other unusual plant (for me) was Pyrola chlorantha (aka P. virens). This species of Pyrola has greenish flowers borne around the stem, not along one side as in Orthilia secunda.

Also found a funnel shaped black fungus with irregular tomentum or teeth on the outer surface. Haven't figured that one out as yet. It looks most like a tough Coltricia or maybe a Phellodon.

The last puzzle found on the way around was a large sternum of a bird.

Haven't managed to identify it as yet. We guessed that it was at least 6 inches long and 4 inches wide.

Continued around the lake, thankfully we didn't get cut off 3/4 of the way around, and back down the trail. We spent 6 hours on the hike and covered about 12 miles. Kind of a speedy pace for me.

Birds: Winter wrens, chestnut-backed chickadees, Swainsons, Hermit, and Varied thrush, Robins, Golden crowned kinglets and a Blue grouse (whomper). We did find a nest (about 10 inches across) on a rock about 4 ft off shore in the lake. No sign of the parents or chicks.

Lots of red squirrel, moose and black bear sign and a mustelid scat on the trail.

July 4th

The flotilla left Swanson Harbor at 7am for Bartlett Cove. Left very early because of the very low tide that might be an issue for the boats on the shore side of the float. Emmelina, Jordan and I traveled on board the Majestic Eagle. Permits have been obtained for the four client boats to enter the park, but the permit for Deception isn't availabale until the 6th of July.

The weather in Icy Strait was very calm, with low clouds and occasional rain. We sat up on the fly bridge for the first couple of hours until the cold got to us. Near Pleasant Island the birds and marine mamals sightings increased (scads of Marbled murrelets). Most of the humpbacks were seen in the distance toward Pt. Adolphus. Did see one Minke whale relatively close. The dorsal fin was very curved and more prominant than that of a humpback. Also saw Sea otters, Harbor seals and Steller's sea lions along the way.

Other birds along the way: Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Fork-tailed Storm petrels, 2 Common loons, 2 Common mergansers, Phalaropes (disputed the species), Parasitic Jaeger, Bonapartes Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and one or two Herring Gulls.

We completed our radio check in with the park service required for a boat to enter Glacier Bay. Proceeded to Barlett Cove dock to attend an orientation presentation. Arrived and tied up at the dock at 1pm. Many Barn swallows were flying over the dock. They were flying low over the dock feasting on the abundant insects. They seem to be nesting under the large pier adjacent to the dock, at least the noise coming from under the pier sounded like begging juveniles.

After the orientation and checking into the lodge, several of us walked the Barlett River trail (about 2.5 miles one way). Bartlett River is a 14 mile long river running through the relatively mature Sitka spruce/western hemlock forest. It turned out to be a good day for wildlife.

Walked out of the front door of the lodge, down the access road and out of the woods came a young, but rather large moose. As soon as it saw us, it turned and ran down the road and into the woods again.

Saw lots of Black bear and moose scat along the trail, but the highlight was at long last seeing a Short-tailed weasel.

Emmelina (leading the pack) heard an odd sound or saw some movement beside the trail and found a dead vole on its back on the boardwalk cross beam. We heard some insistant sounding squeaking from close by (under the boardwalk)and decided to walk on just a bit to see if the animal would come back for its dinner. We moved about 5 steps down the path and a very small, lean and long weasel peeked out from under the boardwalk. It squeeked a few more times, grabbed the vole and squeeked some more. It didn't run off right away, but moved from about a foot or so and squeeked at us again (actually did this a couple of times) then ran off with the vole in its mouth. Squeek isn't a very good description, but it sounded alot like a mink.

It seemed rather like it was letting us know that we had seriously interfered with its dinner plans. Glad that weasels aren't the size of dogs or it would have eaten all of us.

The open meadow near the trail end had an interesting mix of plants including; Fragaria chiloensis, Equisetum arvense, Platanthera dilatata, Lupinus nootkatensis, Triantha glutinosa, Hedysarum alpinum (earlier thought it was a weird Astragalus), and Eriophorum chamissonis.

There were a variety of colors of Castilleja blooming along the meadow. Not sure if they are hybrids or just normal color variation in Yellow paintbrush. The key differences between Red and Yellow Paintbrush seem a little nebulous. Yellow Paintbrush has yellow or yellow-orange bracts with obtuse to round tips and Red Paintbrush has red (rarely yellow) bracts obtuse to acute tips. So what to do with the obtuse yellow orange paintbrush?

The photo of Bartlett river is courtesy of a fellow traveler, Buster Hoffmaster.

July 3rd

The fleet departed Auke Bay harbor at 8am under sunny skies for Swanson Harbor. Between the harbor and Shelter Island saw Surf scoters, White winged scoters, Harlequin, 6 Great Blue herons, Pigeon Guillemots, 3 eagles and 1 Humpback whale and well as lots of Marbled murrelets.
South of Point Retreat encountered a pod of 12 orcas a reasonable distance away. Fortunately for us they were traveling in our direction. Not sure if it was related to our presence or not, but one Orca was spy hopping as we closed the distance. There was one very small one in the pod. At the closest view, it was rather pink instead of white like the older ones. Apparently the relative newborns are rather pink.
Checked the dorsal fins against a photo book of local Orcas in Bartlett cove and matched a few dorsal fins to confirm that it was a resident pod. Unfortunately, I didn’t make note of the identity of the individuals.

Closer to Couverdon we were treated to a impressive sight. A group of 6 or 7 humpback whales bubble feeding. Not just once, but about 10 times. They swam short distances between bubble sessions, in one spot they fed about 3 times before moving on.
One whale didn’t participate, but stayed a short distance off while the rest bubble fed.

We tore ourselves away from the whales and proceeded to Swanson Harbor. I could see roses amongst the thimbleberries on the way into the cove and had my boots on by the time we were tied up at the public float. This became my regular behavior pattern on the trip. Once close to land, I was ready to explore.
There were 5 or 6 oystercatchers on the beach near the float.

I started out on my own for a beach walk along the shore and was joined a bit later by the most of the rest of the folks. Being on my own gave me time to check out the roses, and to bushwack my way through the very thick Thimbleberries into the forest without dragging people along for the trip. The roses are Nootkas (few thorns, large flowers). There was only one rather large and upright Crabapple (Malus fusca) among the thimbleberries. The path into the forest had Black currant (Ribes lacustre) and Baneberry.
An unusually large uplifted beach step (about 6 to 8 ft) was between the beach area and the forest. The shore isn’t wave cut, so I’m attributing the large step to rebound.
In the forest (Hemlock and Sitka Spruce, Blueberry, Menziesia, Goodyera oblongifolia, and Corallorhiza mertensiana.

I joined the rest of the group for the meadow walk. Lots of blooming herbs in the upper part of the beach, Angelica genuflexa, Castilleja unalaschensis, C. miniata, Ranunculus orthorhynchus (red achenes and yellow petals with reddish tinge on the outer surface). Heracleum maximum, Achellea millefolium, Geranium erianthum, Equisetum arvense, Dodecatheon pulchelllum. The grasses were blooming as well (quickly ate a Claritin).

Identifying the Ranunculus gave me a bit of a hard time.
I had a vague memory of a species with red on the outer petals, but couldn't for the life of me remember which species it was. I kind of wanted for the mystery Ranunculus to be pacificus, a species that I don't believe I've seen before. The mystery buttercup fits orthorhynchus a bit better though.

Walked down the beach and back through the woods. Moose pellets was not unusual in the woods, most of it looked old. We did find some newer scat in a fern dominated meadow that we found. I had avoided the spot earlier because I thought the opening was blow down, but was intrigued by the light in the opening and had to check it out. The opening had some of the largest Skunk cabbage I've seen in awhile at the edge. The opening turned out to be a Lady fern dominated meadow. There was also Iris setosa, Platathera dilatata, and Caltha palustris.

July 2
Nice sunny day. I helped Emmelina with shopping for the trip and did a bit of wandering around Auke Bay. I had a little time before shopping to search out a plant that Jordan had seen on his way to UAS via the highway. It turned out to be a cultivated mint, Ajuga. On the way found a very healthy looking population of Platathera dilatata.

We finished the day with an orientation dinner for the cast and crew of Northwest explorations at Thane Ore house. I hadn’t really asked any questions about this trip when I agreed to go, just the dates. Now I have a better idea of what I’m in for. There are four boats following the Deception in the Grand Banks flotilla. The Navigator (Liz and Buster from Austin and Ingrid and Martin from Port Hadlock, WA), the Mystic Eagle (Bob and Maryann (CN) and Ken and Joanne (NJ), Arctic Dream (Bob and Pamela (Vancouver, BC) and Lady of Shalot (Lorenzo, Mario, Adolfo, and Giorgio from Genoa).

Deception is 52ft overall (49ft), beam between 12 and 16ft and draws 4ft of water. It is equipped with twin Lehman diesel engines, 2 generators (15 and 5kw), a water maker and every comfort of a rather fancy home. I don’t believe I’ve ever been on a smallish boat and been allowed to shower daily. Even with 5 people, it didn’t feel overly crowded. Emmelina and I share a cabin, it calls for coordinated use of the space, but not difficult at all.

July 1
Presumably left Sitka for Juneau at 2:30 am on board the Taku. Presumably only because I was asleep in my cabin. Woke up around 7:30, ate breakfast and went back to sleep.
Aaron and Darwin picked me up at the dock, applied coffee to my brain and we went to Mendenhall wetlands. It was the first time that I’ve walked on the trail, previously I’ve just looked at the wetlands from a distance. The goal of the walk was reaching a grove of spruce that was surrounding a nice patch of Cladonias.
One of the obvious differences between the vegetation around Juneau and Sitka is the abundance of Cottonwoods, Willows and Thimbleberry along the roads and trails. Another plant we don’t have around Sitka is Pyrola asarifolia. There was a blooming patch in a grove of young Sitka spruce beside the path.
Another plant I don’t see at home is Orange Hawkweed. It was blooming on the banks where the path went along the sloughs and float plane ponds. It has rather attractive and intensely bright flowers; maybe it should be controlled by promoting it as a cut flower.

Cut across the tidally influenced flats to the spruce grove. In the flats, lots of
Glaux, Puccinellia and a fleshy looking Stellaria. I collected several of the Cladina looking Cladonias from the spruce grove.
Blooming in the meadow parts of the wetlands was Castilleja unalaschensis and Angelica lucida.
Saw one Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle) in a willow along the trail. Also saw several Savannah sparrows, a Yellow legs and a Kingfisher.

Briefly visited the Mendenhall glacier (a bagillion tourists and buses). There is one Silene acaulis on the rock just below the visitor center. Also found another plant I don’t see too often, Saxifraga tricuspidata blooming closer to the parking lot. We could hear one tern, largely ignored by the people, talking away.

Aaron and friends introduced me to Disc Golf that evening. There is a course near Auke Bay. It is kind of a unusual sport, but entertaining. Throwing a smallish disc through trees into a metal basket is a different way of spending time in the forest than I’ve done previously . Not surprised that I have no cross body power, but happily discovered that I do fine throwing open armed. I managed to make a few holes on par, but not many. Needless to say my arm was tired after 18 holes and I lost by a lot. Aaron said he did a lot of his botanizing while searching for stray discs, the plant that drew my interest on a disc search was a blooming Cornus stolonifera/sericea. Climbing a willow to retrieve a disc was entertaining as well.