Prince William Sound 1997

Dennis and I had a five-day "second honeymoon" in the summer of 1997. Just the two of us and Goldie the dog on Prince William Sound. We floated in the sunshine near the face of Meares Glacier until skyscraper-sized chunks of ice crashed into the sea. We anchored at the mouths of isolated bays and canoed for miles. Sea lions and otters played alongside at times. We hiked to the most spectacular and remote places we've ever been. In retrospect, the year was a blur of frantic activity with those days suspended in sharp relief.

We spent the following week on the water with Doug and Sherry, friends of Dennis' since elementary school. Near Green Island, we saw something big on the water and discovered it was a humpback whale, apparently fast asleep. We awakened him from his nap and he dove. Dennis and Doug tried fishing near the island but instead of fish, caught some strange underwater beasties that didn't look too appetizing (see photo).

Dennis and I planned to camp on shore so our friends could sleep on the boat. The only remotely level place we found the first night was on what appeared to be a bear trail. We continued searching but finally concluded that was the only place we could possibly pitch a tent. Dennis was inside the tent arranging sleeping bags when I heard a loud noise to my right. I turned just in time to glimpse a large black bear tearing away as fast as he could go. He disappeared before Dennis could back out of the tent to see him. Apparently, he'd been lumbering down the trail like any other day when he saw us. We scared him half to death. We slept well that night. The bear acted just the way a bear should act. We were happy he discovered us before dark.

Our friends didn't sleep so well that night on the boat. We'd anchored in calm water, but a breeze picked up in the middle of the night and little ripples lapped onto the chines. It sounded all too much like dripping water. Sherry feared the boat might sink and asked Doug to check the bilge more than once. Dennis and I had the dinghy so there was no lifeboat left for them!

Fishing was mediocre, but the fish were amazing. In places, there were dozens of pink salmon in the air at a time, popping out of the water like popcorn, doing flips in the air. They were tormenting us! They refused to bite.