Day 4—Icy Straight

No bears.

We had a busy day with three tours.  We started with a tour to see bears.  The only bears in this area are the coastal brown bear, but that didn’t matter.  Because there were no bears.  They dropped us off in the midst of nowhere, and as the bus drove away, they introduced us to two men with guns.  We were told they were for the bears, but the pump action small gauge rifle made us wonder how effective it was on bears, and why we exactly we stood there abandoned to gunmen in the wilderness.  Hmmm...We tromped around the woods and stood on chilly platforms to overlook action-free rivers.  But we did see a few bald eagles, including one who seemed to land in a tree next to us, break off a branch and fly back over the river to his nest.  I guess the branches are always better on the other side of the river?  At dinner, we sat next to a table with a woman who was on a bird watching tour, and listened as she regaled multiple people about the bears she saw, and the pictures she got.  :-( 

No bears.

Nope.  No bears.

Bald Eagle!

Not a bear.  Or an Eagle.

Gave up on bears,  Looking for Whales!

After lunch, we headed out again to do a whale tour.  Cloaked with the jade and doubt of our bear tour, we boarded our whale touring boat, questioning its suitability, since there was almost no outside space.  As it turned out, the windows opened up so there was a LOT of air space to get decent views.  We headed over to the first spot, and found a mama and calf humpback.  Shortly after we arrived, the calf took a nap, bobbing on the surface while the mother swam around, and we stalked her. 

There's one!!

Spout.

Humpback Whale going back under.

Whale rolling.

Flippers while rolling!

We moved on eventually, and found a few humpbacks that were more active.  Wow were they active!!  After some mundane blows and such, they started frolicking.  One was rolling over and over.  Flippers here and there, and all over.  Then they started leaping!!  It was amazing seeing those things we hear about, but who ever sees it? 

Calf fluke (left) with mother whale fluke (right).

 After the whale watching, we headed to our final event—Zip lining!!  Actually, they call it “zip riding” because apparently sitting in a sling is different than hanging from one.

Zip Line view.

Ready to go!!

Regardless, we took a bus to the top of the mountain, and then hiked back down a bit to the launch pad.  The vertical drop was about 1300 feet, and the line was a little over a mile long, and advertised as the longest zip line in the world.  It was a lot of fun!!

They gave us drink tokens, so after the zip run, we headed to the little bar at the bottom.  They had a Bloody Mary that was…a little unique!!  Gotta try it!

Treat for braving the zip line!