Moontain Goat, or, Mountain Moon

Visual for fantasy fulfilled by Susan, Dear Susan.
With my gratitude for the ongoing belly laugh.

Kayaking The Alaskan Wild Part II

Our kayaking trip took place at low tide, and this was the view under the eagle you saw yesterday.

This harbor seal followed us from a distance.
We asked for directions, but he just stared at us like we were tourists or something. 
Actually, i am not quite sure he wasn't trying to lead us astray.

Remember my thing with dandelions?   They are HUGE in Alaska...long tall stalks and big ol' heads.  Guess they don't get much of a growing season, so they make up for the quantity with quality.

And here we find ALA with Mendenhall Glacier and wild Alaska as a backdrop. 

The kayaking excursion was wonderful, in spite of my physical frailties (there is a story about getting out of the kayak, but i won't go there.)  It was good to be on the water again (for one last time, as the case may be,) and i loved seeing the critters up close.  When we got back and turned in our gear (and mud boots) ALA got us the T-shirt.  I have never done and activity and "gotten the T-shirt" before.  I must say, it is the treasured souvenier from the trip (and it's purple!!)

I think Kayaking Wild Alaska was my favorite part of the trip.

ALA was great...she didn't make me ride to the top of the hill in this...gondolas have always scared the begeebers out of me.  We rode one in Aspen years and years ago, and she never even knew it bothered me until she said something about taking this one and i begged off.  Even after all these years, we are still learning things about each other.

Now how is this for a pout house?  I would love one of those...folks would really leave ya alone in one of those!

When we got back from the kayaking trip, ALA went to play in a tournament, and i crawled into bed to be lulled to sleep by my cognac and the gentle rocking of the boat as we left Juneau and headed to our next destination.

By about this time, we had seen all the animals that you are supposed to see on this trip, except for the mountain goat. 

I wanted to see the mountain goats.

I was only half awake, when the ship's naturalist comes on the speaker and says that she has spotted a herd of mountain goats on the port side of the boat.

I REALLY wanted to see the mountain goats.

But i was REALLY comfortable.

And tired.

If i was going to see the mountain goats, it meant that i had to get up

RIGHT THEN,

get dressed,

find the camera,

LEAVE the room,

and get to the deck on the other side of the boat.

REAL FAST.

I decided to stay where i was and imagine Moon in a furry white coat.

Unfortunately, this was the only goat sighting on the whole trip.

So i squandered my big chance.

Oddly, i am okay with that.

Moon is quite fetching in a burly sort of way, in his furry white coat.

Kayaking The Alaskan Wild Part I

Far off in the distance, over the serene water, you can see a small break in the clouds that is sporting a patch of blue.  Underneath that you will find Mendenhall Glacier.

ALA took us for a kayaking adventure to see the glacier and some wildlife. 

Long ago and far away, i did a little kayaking. 
I was much younger then, and it was in a much warmer place.
At that time, all you needed was a swimsuit, a paddle, and a kayak.

In Alaska, you need GEAR.

I didn't mind suiting up in the whole regalia, but balked when they made me put on mud boots. 

I told those whipper snappers that i wore mud boots every day of my life, and this was my vacation, and i was not gonna wear those mud boots, and they said, "Shall we take your shoes for you, ma'am?" and they were so polite that i wore the stinkin' mud boots.

 

The Bald Eagles were every where, dipping and diving.  The tour guide called them "Alaskan Vultures," and i could certainly see the truth in that.  They were such scavengers.

The funny thing was, as massive as these birds are, they have little sqeeky weenie voices. 

And this would be a Juneau traffic jam...


Juneau Where I've Been?

We awoke on Saturday in Juneau....

The lovely, isolated capital of Alaska.
Inaccessable by road.
If you are in Juneau, you know one thing for certain.
You either got here by boat or by plane.

The startling things about the bush planes is the very, VERY short taxiway they need. I stood on the deck and watched one take off, starting from the next space up from us on the wharf, and by the time it reached the end of our boat, it was in the air.


As soon as we got off the boat to head to our wild kayak adventure, we were greeted by this...

There was a parade consisting of various groups of indian clans, complete with drums,

chanting,

and flying dancers.

I wasn't sure what the occasion was, but, as it was a Saturday morning, i thought perhaps it was something they do "for the tourists."

That's nice, i thought, but something wasn't quite right.
It wasn't schlocky, there was a definite vibe there, and it was obviously families...everyone was included, from those that were not walking yet...

to those that could no longer walk...

and those that can't be stopped.

I knew this was something, but didn't have any idea what we were witnessing, so i just soaked it up, and took lots of pictures.

The faces were wonderful, beautiful, expressive.

I loved this man, proudly leading his clan...

And this lady moved me when i saw her, and still grips me every time i see the picture.

It wasn't until the next day that i learned what it was i had been fortunate enough to witness.

At Saxman Village in Ketchican, someone apologized that the head totem carver wasn't around to give his demonstration because he was in Juneau at a potlatch.

It seems that each year, all the clans gather in one place for...well, i guess it is more or less a great big family reunion, of sorts--family reunion / business meeting. This parade marked the beginning of the gathering.

I cannot even fathom the good fortune...this parade takes place over the span of about 45 minutes, ONCE a year, in a different place each year, and we just happened to walk off the boat, right into the big middle of it.

I think this parade was my favorite part of the whole trip.

Glaciers...or...Big Blue Ice Cubes

 The excursion Captain got us surprisingly close to the Sawyer Glacier.

 Is that not just the BLUEST chunk of ice you have ever seen?

 Not sure if you are going to be able to tell what this is, but a tad to the right of center, you can see the ice falling into the water as the glacier calves.  We observed this happening several times, and ALA seemed to have a sixth sense as to when it was about to happen.  This was one of the highlights of the entire trip, and possibly my favorite part.

This is the Sawyer South Glacier.  Sawyer and Sawyer South were actually part of the same glacier about a hundred years ago, but are quite separated, now.

 As we were heading out of the arm, we spied a harbor seal catching some rays.

 When we got closer, she gave us a dirty look.  Seems we awoke the baby.

 And here is your perspective shot...

I just loved this excursion...the beauty, the waterfalls, the wildlife...i think it was my favorite part.

Lavender's Blue, Dilly Dilly, Lavender's Green....

As we cruised closer to the Sawyer Glacier, the water became rather icy.

 And then the glacier came into sight...

 As we approached the glacier, the color of the water became more beautiful.  By the time we got very close, it was an intense jade green; coupled with the blue of the icebergs, it was stunning.

This is one of my top ten favorite pictures from the trip. 

I now have a better perspective on the color "ice blue."

Tracy Arm Fjord

The first day of the cruise was departure from Seattle, and getting used to the ship.  We did the safety drill and how to choose a lifeboat (there was assigned seating, but i am thinking in the event of an emergency it would really be more a matter of first come first served,) and in the afternoon went to the first of the lectures given by the ship's naturalist. 

Now there's a job for ya!!  Sitting on the bridge of a ship all day watching for wildlife (as opposed to being in a city watching the wild life) and getting on the loudspeaker to tell everyone to run to the port side to see the whales.  I could do that!  Especially in Alaska...nature "in a matchbox," as i was once told.

At dinner that night, we met our table mates for the week, Miss Wanda and Miss Debra.  They were two lovely ladies from Atlanta, and they didn't quite know what to think of ALA and i.  Probably partly because we showed up in our matching "40's Flamingo" shirts and then asked them to take a picture of us toasting, wearing these...

Yes.
We did.

And because i value our friendship, i am not posting the picture. 
It is Whirled Peas.

ALA donned them for me, and i donned them for a dear friend.  The dear friend that gave us a fun filled Bon Voyage Birthday gift bag, containing all things flamingo and birthday.  Thanks, Sandy!! It was a blast!!

So it took a day or two for Miss Wanda and Miss Debra to get over the shock of us, and to realize that we really were quite harmless, but by then end of the cruise, we had a nice little camaraderie going. 

The second day was billed as a "Day at Sea," and most of it was spent on the balcony, knitting and smelling the salt air, enjoying the wildlife, mountains and lovely fresh, cool air.

Twice during the first two days (can't remember exactly at what point) we had temporary pilot's guiding the ship through difficult waters.  We happened to be on the same side as the pilot's porthole of egress,  and i enjoyed watching the pilot boat zoom up to the side of the ship, slow down slightly, and then hook a U-y and zoom away, ostensibly to go pick up other pilots after work, because it sure appeared that they were trying to beat some kind of traffic jam.

The day after that began by boarding the St. Phillip, a small excursion boat, and venturing into Tracy  Arm wilderness area.

 I surely did love the train, but can't decide if the train ride or the Tracy Arm excursion was my favorite part.

We saw amazing things, such as these little guys...

What?  You don't see her?

How about now...

Okay, now?

They are called murrelet's, and are known for diving deep in the water to feed.
They also make their nests on little outcroppings of huge mountainous walls.

Couldn't get the entire face in one frame for perspective.
It was REALLY tall!

How about that "Bunny Burg?"

Here is one i got a little bit better perspective on, later in the day...

Okay, let's test your eyes again...see the bears in this picture?

 There are two of them, one on either side of the waterfall.  They were busy with lunch, and weren't interested in posing, so this is as good as it got...

 Speaking of waterfalls...there was this fabulous fall, and the captain drove the boat right up to it.  ALA and i were as close to the bow as you could get and we caught the spray!  It was mist-ical!

 I loved the colors that the mineral deposits left on the rocks. 

Grab a sweater before you come visit next time...tomorrow is Glacier Day!