Hiking, Kayaking, Waterfalls and Orcas

Sailing overnight, we awoke to a hearty breakfast, and prepared for a morning at the tiny and scenic Pavlov's Cove. A short DIB ride to shore, and we joined naturalist Rich for a wonderful hike along the estuary to the waterfall, scrambling up rocks and through mud past the salmon ladder to reach the small lagoon inland. We saw the most northerly amphibian,a tiny frog near the lagoon. Then off to the kayaks for a lovely hour or so, where we explored along the coastline and saw a harbor seal close by, watching us.

One of the couples we met (from Portland) turned out to be big Formula One racing fans, so our lunchtime conversation focused on cars and racing and their upcoming trip to the south of France and the Monaco Grand Prix.

A beautiful warm afternoon - almost t-shirt weather - sitting on the top deck. I took a short seminar from the photo expert on board about using iPhones and iPads for photography, which was very helpful. Then we had a moving presentation by Casey Anderson, a National Geographic photographer and filmmaker who is an expert on bears. His very personal and moving story about going from rehabbing injured wild animals to raising an infant grizzly to creating a habitat for tamed and orphaned Grizzlies was amazing, and he showed footage of his upcoming documentary which focuses on a small group of bears, especially mothers and cubs, over a season.

in the evening, we were enjoying a very nice dinner, when the announcement came "orcas sighted off the bow". I've never seen a room clear so fast. People literally dropped their forks to go up a level to see the two orcas now on the starboard side of the ship. We oohed and ashes and took many photos. They stayed with us for a half hour, and I found tkhat they surfaced about every 30 seconds, so I could start to be ready for them.

After dinner we entered Red Bluff, a gorgeous little fjord with stunning waterfalls and interesting, multicolored waters. The weather was mild so we stayed out until about 10pm, chatting and taking photos as the light faded.