Alaska 2000 (continued)
In the Native village of Kake, black bears congregate each summer below a fish hatchery in the heart of town to dine on the roe of female chum salmon. With tripods, long lenses and fast film in hand, we traipsed into the canyon. The bears were everywhere, even crossing the little road we had just come in on. But black bears in a near-black canyon at dusk don't photograph well. However, as we left Kake, this beautiful sunset presented itself. Baranof Island is in the distance. Soon after, we photographed lunge-feeding humpback whales in this light.
After anchoring for the night in the limestone-edged ancestral home of the Native village of Kake, we headed north across Frederick Sound. A group of transient orca (killer) whales crossed our path, and this one steamed close to the Delphinus. Then, motoring north along Chatham Strait, we popped into Warm Springs Bay on the east side of Baranof Island for a nice hike and a soak in Baranof Hot Springs.
We anchored for the night at Hanus Bay, hiking in the rainforest and photographing waterfalls, then continued west toward Sergius Narrows in Peril Strait. The fast-flowing tidal currents made Captain Ronn reconsider his timetable, and so we lingered for a few hours in Deep Bay, frothing with salmon and edged with subtle beach scenes everywhere. Here a skunk cabbage glistens with raindrops.
