ALASKA – ICY STRAIT, WHALES AND BEAR WATCHING

The joy of cruising – waking up each morning to a new port or place.Great fun! Bit cloudy but dry as we headed off the ship after a (large) buffet breakfast (so much food, so good) and walked the long gangway to this forested Chichagof island where live around 1,000 bears and hardly any people! Tlingit/Huna people, one of Alaska’s original tribes live in nearby Hoonah, a short walk from where the cruise ships dock.It was around 8.30am.

Icy Strait Point dock — Icy Strait Point

We had a whale watching tour booked at 10.45am with instructions to head for the craft village/cafes where the meet up point was close to.Icy Strait is considered THE best place to see Humpbacks up close as mothers and calves feed in these waters during the summer, having migrated from their breeding grounds in Hawaii.

I really liked Icy Strait/Hoonah.We didn’t take the zip line but walked through the forest (with plenty of other people!) to the area where some nice shops and cafes were.

Yes it was all geared up for tourists off the ships but it was small scale and there were some really nice things to buy.Interesting too to see the old salmon cannery buildings, similar though smaller in scale than I remember in Monterey.

A minibus took us round to the small but busy harbour at Hoonah where we went down quite a steep gangway (the tide was out) to a small boat.I had booked us onto Hoonah Travel Adventures boat though I think quite a few operators go out.Not cheap at $400 for the two of us but few excursions are, whether you use Princess’s own recommended outfits or private ones.That’s how it seemed to me anyway, checking prices.I finally choose an operator according to what time suited us and I wanted us to have a bit of time to explore first.

Paul was our captain and he was very interesting and also entertaining as we sped out into the bay.He had a bone or three to pick with some of the scientists who study the whales as he had recorded several behaviours and patterns that didn’t fit with accepted findings.

I was worried that the outside viewing areas of the boat were a bit small and it would be a crush in terms of trying to get into a prime position to see things but we managed – just.A bit of jostling by everyone however as it was luck where you were standing in terms of getting a great view.The boat travels very quickly to the feeding grounds so we all had to sit inside for that portion of the trip which was slightly disappointing.

There were about half a dozen pairs of Humpbacks in the area we stopped at and we were soon seeing tail flukes and their great backs turning over in the sea as they dived.Then a mother and calf took an interest in our boat – well, the calf did – and we had an up close and personal encounter with them as they came closer and closer.I would have loved having a drone to really see them from above as we could see their great shadowy forms just under the surface.It was an absolute thrill to see them so close though.Beautiful.

Two Bald Eagles also came in to see what food was there for the taking, given all the activity…

Finally the mother and calf moved away and the final show of the tail confirmed they were doing a deep dive and would be down for some time.

In all we spent around 2 hours in the area, before heading back to Hoonah. There had been a grizzly/brown bear spotted on the beach by an earlier group but he was nowhere to be seen now.

Paul had recommended a fish/tacos van in the village so we made for that and quickly got Halibut Tacos and excellent chips.Lots of good spicy sauces to put on it too.

We also said hello to a very nice couple we’d met on board who’d asked if they could share a table with us on one particularly busy lunch time at the buffet.The elderly couple (he had been in the US Coastguard) had chatted with us and the lady herself was a huge fan of St Kilda, a remote double World Heritage Site off Scotland’s north west coast.We had been there on a day trip and she wanted to hear everything about it! I was glad to talk about it as it is an amazing place, hard to reach but utterly spectacular.

Now we saw them with family in Hoonah in a neighbouring restaurant having food outside in the sunshine.Waved hello and imagined we’d probably see them again but the ship is so large, we never did sadly.

On the spur of the moment, with about three hours left, we booked onto a Bear Search Tour run by a local Tlingit man, Greg.I think it was around $140 each, not cheap, for a two hour explore in his Landrover.

It was actually nice to see more of this spectacular and heavily forested island and Greg was very interesting too as we drove along the forestry tracks looking out for Brown Bears.We were told that there were no Black bears left as the Brown Bears (Grizzlies) had eaten them all over the years! There are so many bears that children on their first day of school are told how to react if they meet/see a bear while walking to school.Don’t run, don’t look it in the eye, back off slowly, don’t turn your back, talk quietly and calmly.Easier said than done I imagine!

The local people do not hunt bears but they do hunt deer but there had been fatalities of hunters who – wrongly – carried their kill on their backs as bears soon caught the scent of the animal and the man was mauled from behind.The deer are very small so easily carried.Most of the men this had happened to had come from off the island and were not local.

Lots of lovely scenery to admire, some lakes too but we only had one brief sighting of a bear.Greg stopped the vehicle suddenly and pointed to where a great, round, furry face peered out at us through thick shrubbery.

He tried making the call of an injured deer to see if it would lure the bear out but the bear wasn’t having any of that.He soon skulked away into the forest again.

It was a bit disappointing, I hoped we’d see a bear crossing one of the forestry tracks.There was enormous bear scat all over the roads we followed – I couldn’t imagine ever walking there on your own.

Back to the craft village area where Greg gave us a tour of the village and extended our trip time somewhat! I began to feel a bit panicky as the minutes went by.The village itself, which sat inland a little, was a very untidy, quite rundown looking place with badly kept houses and gardens which were mostly full of junk.The houses by the harbour had seemed in much better shape and better cared for.

Finally, we were dropped off and still had about a mile to walk back to the ship -plus we realised we were pushing it a bit time wise!And there were huge queues now for the free chairlift which would take us back to the port area.Thankfully we returned in time with about 30 mins to spare before it was Up Anchor and away.

Again, the cruise once more delivered outstandingly beautiful, pristine coastal scenery and we spent most of the evening on deck just admiring it all.The temperature was very pleasant, a lot warmer than I’ve ever felt on any of our island ferries at home! As ever too, Humpbacks blew regularly, always lovely to see.