Saturday morning we got up early to go to Whittier for a day trip on the boat. Dan, Harper and I were meeting some friends from Houston, TX for an early morning tunnel and the plan was to get the boat in the water and go for a hike in Cochrane Bay. On our drive from Anchorage to Whittier, Dan and I saw a group of about 7 or 8 Dall sheep that fell off the side of the cliffs along the New Seward Highway. They were all okay, but looked a bit confused as to why the rocks they were standing on gave way. There were a number of people stopped along the highway to make sure none of the were injured too badly, but it was really neat to see so many up close. After we took the turn off the highway to get to the Whittier tunnel, we came across a black bear lumbering along the side of the road - we got a really good look at him! Then Dan saw another black bear just half a mile down the road from the first, walking along a paved pathway. We got through the tunnel, met up with our friends and got the boat into the water.
We drove the boat across the water to a large kittiwake colony and saw a ton of birds. Harper really enjoyed watching them fly around. We drove around Cochrane Bay and ended up back in Surprise Cove for lunch, Harper's nap and a short hike. We decided to drive the boat around in Blackstone Bay and check out the glaciers, and while we were discussing with our friends if locals ever got numb to the beauty of Alaska - a fin back whale breached right in front of us! We watched him for a bit and then we came upon a raft of sea otters...too many to count! We stopped in Shotgun Cove for dinner and watched a bald eagle fly around while the fish jumped around us.
Once we got back in the car and headed to Anchorage, we saw no fewer than five moose, including a big bull and what appeared to be newborns and a mama moose.
It was an amazing day - packed with much more wildlife than I have seen in a LONG time!! I love this place!
Unfortunately the photos are not representative of all we saw...I need to get better at multitasking & take more!
Lone goose on a rock in the rain at Three Finger Cove
Kittiwake colony
Harper loves to drive
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