Where We Got To See Bears Anyway

You might remember a few days ago when we first boarded we discovered that one of the excursions I thought I had booked apparently was not booked and was now sold out. We had expressed our displeasure to the Excursion Director, Scott, who put us on the waiting list.

This morning we got up early anyway, just in case a spot opened up. Andy spoke to Scot first thing: Scot’s suggestion was to go down to the bus for the Fortress of the Bears excursion and see if anybody didn’t show up.

Which worked like a charm. It was not clear if there was actually somebody who didn’t show up, or they just figured out there were a couple of empty seats on the bus, but it didn’t matter – we were on the bus.

It was about a 20 minute drive along one of the few paved roads in Sitka to arrive at the Fortress of the Bear, a non-profit that takes in injured or orphaned bears and gives them a forever home. Alaska does not have a rehab-and-release program for bears; the cubs that are rescued by this organization would otherwise be euthanized.

The bears are kept in large enclosures where they have access to a pool to swim in and enrichment activities. They are trained to perform certain behaviors to help with health assessments: they open their mouths, raise their paws, and stand on command. Two younger bears (7 years old) are kept separate from the older bears (16 years old), because they are still teenagers and full of energy. The older bears would not appreciate this energy.

After about 45 minutes, we got back on the bus. We were dropped off in downtown Sitka in front of the library.

We went in search of a CVS-like store; the bus driver recommended a grocery store that was just a few blocks away. As we headed off in that direction, it started to rain. As it apparently does here most days.

We found the grocery store and found everything we were looking for. Since it was Sunday, most of the shops were closed until later in the afternoon, so we decided to go back to the ship.

Once we were back on the ship, we went to lunch. The afternoon is open for us. As I type this, Andy is off on a long run.

Once I finish this, it’ll be cookie time! I’ll bring my knitting and sit in the lounge to look at the view.

Tomorrow: Another morning in Sitka. We have a raptor excursion.

Where We Visit A Tiny Town And See More Bald Eagles

After breakfast, we were off on an eagle adventure! And maybe bears! The tour bus was a modified school bus, awkward to climb up and awkward to sit in.

We drove up to Chilkoot Lake in a state park. Along the way, we saw anglers in the fast running river, hoping to catch a salmon. In the middle of the river was a weir, where a state official sat in a chair to count the number of salmon going through the barrier.

At one point a bear wandered onto the weir and then wandered off again – but we were not able to catch a photo before he wandered back into the brush.

There was an eagle on a tree on the other side of the lake. This is a photo without the benefit of a zoom scope

This is the same bird taking the photo with my iphone through a zoom scope:

Then we were on our way back towards town to visit the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, that takes care of injured eagles and other birds that can’t live in the wild.

Many of the enclosures were empty, which might be a good thing?

There was another interior room with an exhibit of all the kinds of wildlife in the area, including moose.

When we got back to the ship, after lunch we decided we’d go into town via the shuttle. The shuttle driver decided to deviate from the schedule and just drive us directly to the Sheldon Museum, because she wasn’t scheduled to leave for another 30 minutes and we were the only people standing at the shuttle stop.

We felt obligated to visit the Sheldon Haines Museum, since we share the last name, though in no way related. This is the third famous Sheldon family that we’ve come across during our Alaskan adventure. Here is some info on this particular Sheldon family.

The museum was a couple of rooms containing Alaskan native artifacts similar to all the other museums we’ve seen so far.

We next walked literally across the street to the Hammer Museum. This m

I liked the decorative glass hammers.

We finished both museums in under an hour, so we were able to catch the 3:00 shuttle back to the ship, just as it started to rain.

Back on the ship, we ended the day with dinner and watching the evening’s entertainment on the room TV.

Tomorrow: Day At Sea on the way to Sitka

Where We Spend Our First Full Day On Board Cruising Through Glacier Bay National Park

The morning started off rather gloomy.

But we could just about make out Steller Sea Lions on the rocks around us as we approached Marble Knob

But the fog quickly improved, thank goodness.

Around 9:00 a.m., we picked up two passengers: a park ranger for Glacier National Park and a Tlingit native interpreter. The term “interpreter” didn’t have much if anything to do with translating languages as interpreting Tlingit native culture for our edification. Both delivered excellent presentations as we sailed along through Glacier Bay.

Bear alert!

We also were looking for mountain goat, which is extremely difficult to spot. They look like white dots with feet on the mountains. There’s a lot of white dots on the mountains, and most of them do not have feet.

We arrived at the Margerie glacier around 2:00 p.m. Plied with hot chocolate, assorted flavors of alcohol, as well as assorted kinds of brownies, we spent quite a bit of time watching the glacier, waiting for to calve. We did hear the booms and crashes of calving a couple of times, but I didn’t capture that in a photo or video.

It’s truly impossible to capture the magnificence of this glacier.

Eventually it was time to turn around and sail back through and on to Haines. We passed by a couple of other glaciers along the way.

Otters were spotted floating on an ice raft. They quickly jumped into the water as the boat sailed by.

Some time during dinner, the park ranger and Tlingit native interpreter were sent back to land via a ship’s tender.

After dinner we had a quiet evening in our room, listening to the port talk and the evening’s entertainment via the ship’s TV channel.

Tomorrow: Haines, AK

Where We Spent Some Time Viewing Critters That Couldn’t Wander Far

And Our Last Official Night Of The Pre-Cruise Excursion With Our Tour Guide And Bus Driver

In the morning, we packed up one more time for our official last day of our pre-cruise excursion. Before we left Seward, we walked across the street to the Alaska Sealife Center.

Here are some photos of the exhibits we saw, including one that wasn’t an exhibit at all.

Back on the bus, we headed to our last stop before heading to Anchorage at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, where injured or orphaned animals are taken in and provided lifelong care in a habitat as close to a natural one as possible. It’s a 1/4 mile circuit.

These photos are not in any kind of correct sequence.

Continuing on our way, we made a pit stop at a store with a chocolate waterfall that we were not allowed to sample, for some reason.

At dinner, we said our farewells to Jade (tour guide) and Jill (bus driver), both absolutely superb! They both made this past week extra special with their professionalism, endless enthusiasm, and endless (and I do mean endless) patience.

Actual tears were shed and hugs were shared.

Tomorrow: The land excursion is officially over with the flight to Juneau.