Today is Haines day! Haines is a small coastal town that is brimming with neat activities for our guests. While some guests enjoyed a deep hike into a temperate rainforest or a walk through meadows of flowers, others went fly fishing, cycling, or floating on a river raft. Some guests spent the day in town bebopping around into shops, breweries, and museums. Haines day is always a guest favorite. We left the dock in the early evening to head for Cross Sound. Tomorrow, we are exploring the Inian Islands! We closed our day with a stunningly vivid double rainbow after dinner. It was such an amazing day in Southeast Alaska.
5/7/2025
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National Geographic Sea Lion
Inian Islands, Port Althorp
The Inian Islands invoke sheer joy and excitement among the naturalists, which in turn, is transferred to the guests. We set out in Zodiacs, traversing in nearly unprecedented calm conditions through the narrow Mosquito Pass, then around North Inian Island. We observed over a dozen bald eagles and sea lions waiting for the inrushing tide to bring fish to the surface for easy pickings. We also saw a couple of male sea otters peacefully lying on the surface while fluffing up their fur to introduce air for insulation (they don’t have blubber). The weather was classic Alaska…sun grading to rain…then to partly cloudy. In the afternoon, we traveled to Port Althorp for kayaking and hikes. Again, very calm conditions with intermittent sun and rain. The hikes were beautiful, winding across the mud flats and into the thick rainforest painted with several shades of green. Bear trails were observed and used by us as convenient paths to follow. Kayakers slowly paddled across glassy water to enjoy the peace and solitude. The day ended with soft sun.
