Goats and Bears

So this morning, after tending to some errands, we decided to do the Goat trail. An old road before they put in the present highway, it sounded interesting enough, nagivating
the edge of a canyon and with some views of the waterfalls; we were fully expecting some spectacular vistas. Alas, we didn't appreciate how prolific the vegetation is in a coastal rainforest. We spent most of in enshrouded in a canopy of trees with the occasional lookout; when we started having to bushwhack, we decided to cut our losses and turn back. Obviously not as popular as the tourist info centre would have you believe....

Afterwards we went to check out the Vadez Glacier, but could not find a way to get around the terminal lake, otherwise we would have hiked up onto the glacier. It was unusual, because the the toe of the glacier was several km further up the valley beyond, yet the lake was filled with glacial icebergs. Are there any glaciologists out there able to explain why that is?

Later that afternoon we went out and took a drive around the inlet, and saw a salmon run (see below). Driving back, we saw a traffic jam, knowing it was probably wildlife. Normally Carole and I don't stop, since we prefer to see it in a more wild setting rather than by the roadside, but it was a mother bear grizzly and two cubs, so we understandably caved in. I observed the mother for a while, and she seemed very nonchalant about the crowd, barely taking an interest... so out the camera came. She and her cubs were scavenging for food on some tidal flats. We watched them seach for food, and then the two cubs wrestled with each other... it was like something out of National Geographic.

We finally came back to the campground around 8PM and made dinner. Our friendly neighbour, Cheryl, whose son and daughter-in-law was out fishing offered us some freshly caught halibut; it was totally decadent.