Yes, bears really do .....

 Monday May 13 - Icy Strait (Hoonah Alaska)

In the Caribbean some cruise lines have private islands, NCL here in the Land of the Midnight Sun they have a peninsula. Icy Strait has two docks and both were NCL ships. It has Dog Sledding, zip Lining, Gondolas to the top of a mountain. Of course, an addition fee is involved. Everything except for a tram ride from one side to the other, the remainder was captive extortion. Half a Benjamin to ride the gondola, a couple Ben’s to zip down the mountain for 90 seconds. If someone was paying for it, I’d love to engage, but it is too costly an experience for me today. Think I’ll stay to Terra Firma today.

Breakfast in the main dining room. An egg and a piece of toast should be enough fuel for the day. Of course coffee. I stopped to say hello to Florence and Amos. I met him at the craps table the first night and shared a lunch table with them. She introduced herself as Florence. I said “Ah, Florence and the machine!” trying to get a hook to remember it. She smiled and said “I prefer Florence Italy.” Now I know I’ll remember it.

The pre 10 am greeting rule seems to hold here as it does on the trails back home, maybe more 1030. the 10 am people happy to share the morning with others with a nod, a smile or a Good Morning . After 11, not so much, a grunt is the absolute best you can hope for.

I alit on the dock and walked until I found dirt under my feet. Then looked for the first trail I could find. "Danger! Bear" signs abound. "This is not a zoo. Bears can kill you". "If you see a bear get large, don’tlook and back away". — Ok, now they have my attention. I follow the coastline and pass a solo woman.“Have you seen Yogi?”, I asked. She got the reference and smiled a No.

The trail was a wide promenade of crushed gravel through the trees. There was no way to get lost. Follow the crushed gravel trail. Which leads to more places to spend your vacation dollars. More importantly for me at the moment, a Women’s room. Maybe all that coffee was not a good choice. I took advantage of the restroom and then rolled the trail back, stopping to view the eagle’s nest high in the trees. Got back to my point of entry and turned around and went back to the restroom, turned around and went back to my starting point. This is going to be a very very boring day. I kept going and found more places to shop. Stopped and took the obligatory Alaskan eagle photo. Then I saw a sign “Hoonah 1.5 miles” that should break the Wash, Rinse, Repeat of the trail.

The walk along the shore was nice smooth concrete sidewalk. The rain was more a heavy mist, just enough to require that my hood was up. I did find that bears not only shit in the woods, they also shit on the sidewalk, and they are not subtle. Past the Alaskan state ferry, Hoonah came into view. I am not sure the difference between a village or a town is, this one was certainly leaning to the village side of the equation. I passed one restaurant “Open 5 to 9, except for when cruise ships in town, 10-9”. I heard the sound of axe on wood and followed it to a shed where two men were working on creating a totem. I sat down and asked the elder if photos were permitted. He gave me a great smile and said yes. I sat and watched him a bit when he handed me a curl of shaving and told me to smell it. It was different than the cedar I’m used to smelling, Looking at the wood it was obvious it was yellow cedar and not the Western red cedar of home. He said it was a harder wood than the WRC. Easier to work as it didn’t split and splinter as easy, it looked like it required more strength to chip into it. I thanked him for sharing his craft with me and headed back to the ship.

Rain was increasing and it seemed that the egg and toast needed a boost. A bowl of chili and a nap were totally in order. Later up in the glass atrium my novel reading was interrupted my yelling the side of the ship, a whale was 100 yards off the side of the ship. Oohs and aah’s abounded. It rolled up for a breath and then was gone. I hope I can experience it another time.

The remained of the day was just coasting and reading. Came to dinner and it was food, nothing memorable.