Idaho Inlet & Elfin Cove
The morning started with thick, horizontal layers of fog blanketing the sea and shoreline. Only occasionally could you see a headland or mountain shoulder softly exposed for imagined moments. It was difficult to orient myself within Idaho Inlet. Were we headed north, south, east or west? Then the tip of the spruce trees of Shaw Island came into view. Sky, air and water were all gentle gray. A harbor porpoise showed its back only briefly, but in that moment clarified the water-sky boundary. Then ahead, as the fog rose a few feet off the water surface, and distant trees defined the shoreline, small figures floating appeared far, then near. Sea otters swam slowly leaving swaths of disturbed ripples. Later one was seen eating while cruising. Dungeness crab, two on the chest, to the envy of many.
Morning was spent squelching in the intertidal zone for some, as others paced out the ancient footprints of bears treading the same path to this day, through the forest to the stream. The stream held salmon, temporarily blocked by a fallen tree, but finding passage as they squeezed through the branches and pebbles, thrashing upstream to deeper pools and their future. A water ouzel (now known as the American dipper) bobbed its rump between forays under riffles in search of fresh-water invertebrates. I think I have them convinced by now. Boots were definitely “in” this morning.
Elfin Cove was seen in light/heavy drizzle. The residents (fewer than twenty over-winter in this place) are accustomed to the pace and sounds of life here, yet we are left wondering how they do it. We are transient visitors to this style of life, and can only imagine the daily goings-on in a community so small. But the boardwalk way of life is fascinating all the same. Many of us walk the entire circuit, visit all the shops, and buy smoked salmon from Patti at the smokery.
A female humpback with calf patrolled the harbor in systematic sweeps. Zodiacs, fishing boats and floatplanes made their way to the dock throughout the afternoon. A very Alaskan place.
