My First Post

So, I think I should preface this post by saying that it's a very good thing that my mother is half way across the world in Vienna.

This trip has been beyond amazing. I think the fact that this is my first post is a testament to the awesomeness of this trip. When I'm not out strolling through a harbor checking out the boats for sale, I'm hiking through a rainforest loaded with 6 inch spotted slugs!

Today, however, was not the typical hiking-through-the-inside-passage day. Jen and I decided to take an ATV (all terrain vehicle, very much like a 4x4) tour around the base of Mount Edgecomb, an extinct (it just passed its 10,000th inactive year) volcano island. The boat ride out was about 25 mintues and Jen and I were in a van full of fellow off-roaders at least 3 times our age. Nonetheless, I was impressed with their ability drive those suckers -- I can only hope I am as spry and courageous as them when I get that old! On our way out to the island, with our captain, Guy, driving out boat, we had the chance to see a sea lion toss and smack around a fish it had just caught. We had just turned around off of the harbor and saw it! Wildlife count: 1. About halfway over to the island, we saw a couple of humpback whales breeching as they headed out to the Pacific. I was able to snap a quick picture before they disappeared into the horizon. Wildlife count: 3.

Once we were given a quick tour and a crash course in safety of these top-heavy Yamaha Rhino's, we headed on our way out to the a black sanded beach on the other side of the island. I made Jen drive first, partly so I could take pictures and partly so I could see how driving these things was done. She was an excellent driver and only almost tipped me out once. Only kidding, but those roots and logs are tough to manuever around! We stopped about halfway through at a beautiful, lush green meadow and had the opportunity to watch a couple of adolescent brown bears wander around out in the grass about 2 football field lengths away. It was amazing. They were the first two brown bears we had seen in Alaska! Wildlife count: 5. After watching them drink water and disappear behind some tall grass, we continued our bouncy journey to the beach. Once we made it to the beach, our guide, Christian, took us down by a river that feeds into the bay, which leads directly out into the Pacific. Tomato soup, jalepeno scones, water, lemonade and shortbread cookies were provided for a quick snack. From the beach, we had an amazing view of the volcano and I took quite a couple of pictures. I walked down the beach and found deer tracks!

We spent about 20-30 minutes on the beach and then it was time to head back to the Sitka. Jen and I switched places, which meant I took the wheel. I had to start out at the worst part of the trip, trying to drive over huge roots and logs and rocks. I only hit one log and the guy behind us said we were about 2-3 feet off the ground. No worries mom, we didn't flip! We headed back a little faster than we drove over but slowed down and saw the same 2 brown bears in the meadow on the way back. I can definitely say that driving a small Rhino was WAY different than going mudding in a Tahoe! Very fun, though. It was nice to be able to drive 9 miles instead of hiking them - and that's just OUT to the beach, not roundtrip! Once we got back, Jen and I took a picture with Christian and Kayla (our rear guide) and then hopped back on the boat with Guy. We were hoping to see a couple of more humpback whales but had no luck. We did, however, see a little sea otter laying out on its back in the middle of the bay! It was absolutely adorable -- just like all the stuffed animals you see. Our boat, which only sat 2 people (Jen and I) and the other boat (which held the other 5 Rhino-ers) slowed down and circled aroudn the otter. It flipped on its stomach and slid underwater - probably since we scared him - and we didn't see him again until he was pretty far away. It was still VERY cool to see a real otter NOT enclosed in a zoo! Wildlife count: 6.

When we made it back to land, our van to take us back to the docks we came from wasn't there yet so we hung out with Guy and Coby (the other captain) until it arrived. Two black labs came around and wandered around us. They were gorgeous dogs and very friendly. I wouldn't count them in the wildlife count, but they were still fun to play with!

When we got back to downtown Sitka, Jen and I walked around for a little bit - going in a couple of stores. We hit the bookstore and I got three more books, hoping they will last me until the end of the trip. She got another Dan Brown book.

When we returned to the hotel, Kelly and Alex were just getting back from fishing and we got to hear all their stories and check out their pictures. The one of Alex and his 103 lb Halibut left me aghast. And, VERY VERY excited about fishing on Wednesday. I'm counting on catching some fish and looking forward to cooking them home upon my arrival back home :)!

I'm looking forward to heading on to Wrangell, although I must admit, I'll definitely miss the leaping salmon and beautiful scenery in Sitka. 10-4!

Oh, and mom? We wore helmets :)