A Good Sunday Afternoon

After I dropped Suzanne off I headed back towards my house.  As I was driving I watched the unsettled weather of the morning finally settle, and grey skies eventually turned to blue.  It had started out as a question mark of a day weather wise, but on the way Out the Road is became obvious that Sunday was going to turn into a beautiful day.

I stopped at one of the pull-offs not far past Auke Bay, because by then the sky was blue and so was the channel, and I felt compelled to photograph this most beautiful day.

Standing at this overlook, I really wished that yesterday, while I was out on my whale watching tour, that the skies had been this clear. 

If you look closely at the pictures you can see fishing boats dotting the water.  There is a big fishing tournament coming up in Juneau at the end of the month:

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My Mountain Boy is missing some very fun spring events in Juneau.  He will definately have to make up for lost time after he gets here.......

Glacier Highway heading Out the Road.....

After I arrived home, I unloaded my gear........pack, hand gun, rain jacket, trekking poles.  I had not planned to go anywhere else after I got home, but as soon as I pulled into the driveway I made a decision to drop off my gear and walk down the hill to the beach at the end of my road.

I walked out of the driveway and up the hill to the corner intending to turn left and walk down the hill to the water.  But as I got to the corner I saw a very small trail sign off the road and almost hidden by the trees.  Trail sign???  There's a trail at the corner???  How could I live here for two months and not know this???

And yet again, unexpectedly, I was like a kid opening a new toy on Christmas morning.  There was a trail a couple of minutes from my house that had managed to stay completely off my radar. 

Now that I knew it existed I had to go check it out.

It was very rough, full of roots, barely able to be called single track.  And I loved it. 

The trail was challenging to walk because it was so unkept, and was only about 3/4 mile long.  I greatly enjoyed exploring it - this new and surprising gift that was handed to me on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  I followed it fairly easily, the water was always in view to my right (though partially concealed by the trees) and it ended exactly where I thought that it might.  At this bench that I had found in my last visit to the beach, and that looks out over the channel.

The overlook bench......

And the views from the overlook bench........

And the last 20 yards from the overlook bench down to the water

I walked down to the rocky shore front and briefly stood taking in the view and quietly enjoying everything that stood before me........the hills, the water, the boats that are becoming more and more prevalent each week of this new spring season, the mountains and the blue sky.  It was all very beautiful.

I snapped a picture of the cove, and while my attention was focused to my left I heard a very large noise behind me coming from the main channel........

I turned around to see what the noise was but all I could see were the boats on the water.

Everything looked quiet and normal so I turned my attention back to the cove.

A minute later I heard the same loud noise again and quickly turned around again.....what WAS that???

 

As I turned around to face the channel again, I caught the briefest of views of his body and then his tail.....and then he was gone.

The whale was less than 50 feet from shore.  Big.  Dark.  Right there!  I couldn't believe it.

By now I was completely focused on the main channel, scanning the water trying to catch another sighting of him, and maybe (if I was lucky) get a picture of him.  He was so close.......

He popped to the surface maybe 50 feet to the left of his last surface, turned just a little and I caught sight of his left fin.  I couldn't get my camera up and in the right place in time.

I dropped my camera slightly frustrated.  There must be a special trick to capturing good pictures of whales.  But I certainly did not know what the trick was.

He was much bigger and much closer than all of the whales I had seen on my cruise yesterday, and I could not get a picture.

I continued to scan the water wondering where he would pop up next.  Half way into the cove.  Oh boy - I hadn't counted on him going into the cove.  Nope - no picture.

The next time I saw him he was back in the channel again, and this is all I could get....... 

 

And then he was gone.

Seeing that whale today - so close to the house - so big - so close to the shore - moving so fast - was completely unexpected and completely wonderful.

Yet again I called my Mountain Boy to tell him what I had seen.  Yet again I sounded like the kid I felt like.

What a great experience.

Some more boats on the water..........

As you move into the cove the shoreline is sandy, but this portion of the public beach is very rocky and filled with barnacles and clam shells.  And of course, grassy areas that lead away from the water and back to either my newly discovered trail or the gravel road up to my house.

Part of the trail.........

And part of the gravel road..........

Six weeks or so ago I had this small, fragile looking yellow flower growing in my yard that I had never seen before.  I was told that it was skunk cabbage. 

I had never heard of skun cabbage and did some research on it, but the name certainly did not seem to fit the appearance of this small yellow flower.

As they continue to grow and mature the name is seeming to fit more and more

And finally something I bought at a garage sale at Student Housing on the UAS Campus yesterday, on the way home from my whale watching cruise.