Lots of Bears, Eagles and Sea Lions

On Thursday, after I posted my blog, I went for a run around town. While on the street where the high school is located, I heard a loud boom, followed by crashing of tree limbs. As I neared the sound, I saw a "public safety officer" with a very large gun. He told me there had been a young bear in a tree and he had frightened it out and it was headed behind the HS. Needless to say, I kept my eyes open for it and I stayed away from the HS. After my run, we drove back out to the Solomon Fish Hatchery area. Just as we pulled into the parking lot we saw all these people running in one direction. Of course, we followed them and that's when I saw the brown bear frolicking in the water. That's the best way to describe his/her actions. It was a fairly young bear and it was jumping up and down and looking at us like it was there to entertain us. After awhile it got down to the business of catching fish. In a short time it was successful and then, with fish in mouth, it walked across the road into the woods. What a treat to see this animal in action.

In the same location we saw numerous eagles, including the largest juvenile that I have ever seen. In addition, there were quite a few sea lions in the area. The fisher people were not even using bait; they were just throwing out their lure and snagging the fish.

Yesterday was another beautiful day in Valdez. The Valdez glacier is located just down the road from our campground and we drove back there to watch the kayakers. We also returned to Robe Lake to see if there was any wildlife action there.While Hollie was doing his bike ride, I went to the Valdez Museum which helped me to get a better understanding of the history of Valdez, including how the earthquak, pipeline terminal, oil tanker spill have impacted the Prince William Sound area.

I did another run around town, managing 5.5 miles plus 1.5 miles walking. There are quite a few runners in the area. I just imagine most of them are visitors, although I'm sure the locals are enjoying what they tell me is the best weather that they have had in years.

Last night when I was waiting for an available shower I was talking with a guy who is in a campsite near us. He asked me if I had seen the bear last night. He then told me that a small black bear had walked right through our sight. We were not at the site at that time, so I did not see it, although I have been hearing noises at night that I think are bear.

This morning we went back out to the Solomon Hatchery area where we ran along the bike/pedestrain path. There were quite a few eagles and sea lions, but we did not see bear. We are now in town where I will probably go to another museum.

We will be leaving tomorrow to meet some people in Tok on Tuesday. They are supposed to buy our trailer and if it happens, we will then drive to Haines and take the ferry to Prince Rupert where we will then make our way to Backus, MN to pick up a 5th wheel Scamp.

I hope that my blog is not totally confusing as far as my timelines. I do not have regular internet access and by the time I get around to posting, I may not have thing in exactly the right time frame.