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Wednesday was a beautiful day – a few clouds in the morning made way for a clear blue sky for most of the day. We left the pier just about 10 am on a double-decker tour boat.

The water was calm and we had incredible sea life views. We saw several pods of orcas (killer whales). Generally there were 2 together, but in one case, we saw 6 in the pod of varying sizes (including a young one born this season). The naturalists here study them and know by various markings which ones are native to this area and which ones are “passing through”. The group of 6 is native here, known as the A6 pod. We also saw 2 humpback whales, a sea lion colony on a protected area, numerous seals and sea otters. Many of them have their babies as well. We also had an opportunity to see many of the native birds including puffins and 2 bald eagles in their nests.

The captain of the ship also was our guide. He had a wealth of knowledge about the wildlife as well as the environment around us – including the rocks, trees and glaciers. When he got word from his colleagues out on other boats of sea life, he would alter his course if possible to go check it out. If someone on the boat saw sea life, he would turn the boat around while we checked it out.

We saw several glaciers throughout the day and one very large glacier where pieces of it were calving off. We saw a few pieces come off, but it wasn’t as active as some we have seen in the past. However, the clear blue sky with the white glacier below it made for some beautiful pictures.

On the way back to port, we stopped at Fox Island for a salmon and prime rib buffet dinner. It was a private island and only this particular cruise line uses it for dinners. It was a nice way to end the day – after our meal we had a short cruise back to the pier and a quiet evening sitting outside, enjoying the nice weather.

Tomorrow morning we’ll head out for Homer and see if we can find a campsite before it gets too busy for the weekend!

Our trip out to Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park was the plan for the morning. After a stop to get some hints from the ranger, we headed out on the trail. The first part of the trail is wide and fine gravel – easy walking and relatively flat. Although the trail was a loop, the ranger suggested we take the trail counter-clockwise since it had some great views of the glacier along the way. As we hiked, we saw some signs with numbers on them. What we found out, was that the numbers showed where the glacier had actually been in that year. It has been retreating and the last 10 years, the retreat has been accelerating significantly. That is our global warming! After about 1/2 mile, the trail split and we headed up to the upper trail to the base of the glacier. At this point, the trail started to climb and became narrower. Eventually it was quite rocky and after a certain point, Joyce said enough and sent Paul on his way to get to the final stop beside the glacier. Being afraid of heights and therefore making me an unhappy hiker when the trail gets really steep, just meant it was better to sit and enjoy the view and let Paul carry on the last bit. Looking at the trail from that point on while I was sitting on the rock, I was happy to be where I was!

It always amazes us the footwear people think they can hike in. We’ve seen cheap flip flops, heels, and today, slip in Birkenstock sandals. No wonder, the rangers have so many rescues! We both have hikers that we wear, but we’re going to need to look for new ones for Paul – his are disintegrating before our eyes!

After a chicken caesar salad back at the trailer, we headed to the beach for Joyce to try fishing again. It’s her last chance before her license runs out since tomorrow we’ll be out on a boat. There were more people fishing this afternoon.

High tide is about 4:30 pm and we got there about 90 min. before. Snag fishing is hard work – the waves were quite big and her rain boots certainly didn’t keep her feet dry – most people had full chest waders on. However, that didn’t deter her – the weather was fairly warm otherwise and she had one good catch of about 7 pounds as well as 3 smaller ones – all reds (sockeye salmon). Of course, you also end up losing a few along the way – even those skilled at snag fishing will lose some – they get off the hook before you get them up on shore. You really need to make sure you have more than one person fishing – or at least along since it is helpful to have someone with you to when you get the fish on the beach to help catch it because inevitably it ends up getting off the hook and tries to get back to the ocean! Finally, after more than 4 hours, we packed it in and Joyce cleaned them and packaged them for the freezer. We figure we have at least 10 meals of fresh, sockeye salmon!

Tomorrow we head out for 8 1/2 hours on the water – glaciers and sea life….