As the sun rose over Admiralty Island, National Geographic Venture slowly cruised along Chatham Strait looking for wildlife. We saw numerous individual whales, pairs, and cow/calf pairs! Eventually the National Geographic Venture slowly approached our afternoon landing site, Lake Eva. This well-groomed trail along a very active salmon spawning stream is one of our favorite hikes in Southeast Alaska. Not only were there plenty of spawning salmon, but we ended up seeing a mom with two cubs catching their lunch near a small waterfall in this productive stream! In total, there were eight bears sighted during our stay. We kayaked, paddle boarded, and hiked in this spectacular environment. Under blue skies, we ended the day with an invigorating “Polar Plunge” into the Alaskan waters.
7/23/2024
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National Geographic Quest
Petersburg
This morning National Geographic Quest arrived at the small fishing town and bustling harbor of Petersburg. Petersburg is among the top 20 fishing ports in the United States and walking and biking around the community we could appreciate the charm of the amazing homes along the waterfront. After breakfast we divided into our different groups based on our activities and explored the town by bicycle, walking to a muskeg bog, climbing Petersburg Mountain, or enjoying cultural tours with some of the locals as guides. Every activity was fun and educational. It felt like we were the only tourists in town, and we really got a sense for small town Alaska. After lunch the rain set in and some of us decided to relax on board while others put on rain gear and enjoyed a Zodiac tour around the harbor, walks, or a bike ride around town. Returning to the ship, we had an incredible presentation by a local resident about Tlingit culture before our recap and amazing Dungeness crab dinner that followed. It was another great day in Southeast Alaska.