We began our day by hiking into a forest dripping with rainwater, fragrant pink spruce cones, and hanging lichens. A tumbling waterfall captured everyone’s attention, no matter their photographic inclination. We just couldn’t look away. To top it off, we were graced by the presence of a magical bird called the American dipper, or the water ouzal. She proudly perched on a rock for all to see, blinking her feathered eyelids and doing her dipper dance. Dippers are the only diving songbirds in North America, and as such, they are objectively awesome.
Petersburg, Alaska was the site of our afternoon activities. These included bike riding, a cultural tour, muskeg hikes, an ambitious hike to Raven’s Roost, and / or the option of exploring town independently. This was our first visit back into civilization since setting sail. Of course, there was a mad dash to the one and only Petersburg bookstore, which offers a variety of local crafts and books that capture the essence of this unique region. Animal-themed zipper pulls are an especially popular treasure.
The day concluded with recap, including presentations about sharks of the Pacific Northwest, the love lives of Dungeness crabs, and the life history of American dippers. Following a robust crab dinner, undersea specialist Rachel Crane delivered an evening presentation that highlighted dive footage from a plankton-rich site along our voyage. We went off to bed and dreamt sea star dreams.
