Saturday, August 19, 2017 | Sitka, Alaska

Today, we sailed on a catamaran through Sitka Sound to explore areas unreachable by a conventional boat. On our way to Kruzof Island we were able to catch a glimpse of Tongass National Forest. It covers 17 million acres and makes up over 75% of Southeast Alaska. It’s the largest national forest in the United States and the largest coastal rainforest in the world. Its most common tree is the western hemlock, followed by spruce, cedar, pine and alder. Mindy and I were delighted to see it from the water. We discovered long ago that if you hike in a rainforest, you will get very wet.

We passed Mt. Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano named by Captain James Cook in 1778. Mt. Edgecumbe last vented ash between 5,000 and 6,000 years and the last explosive eruption was between 12,000 and 14,000 years ago. It was also the prop used in that epic April Fools joke on the previous post.

We landed on a beach of Kruzof Island to explore. In the grey, overcast light there was an abundance color to behold. From the golden sea kelp to the red water filled with iron to the green sea anemone to the multicolored hodgepodge of everything washing up on shore.

Continuing, with bear bells around our necks (upgraded from the bear bell I used to wear on my knapsack), we entered the forest with every shade of green I have ever seen. I can tell you one thing – there are no rolling stones anywhere near here.

On the way back we saw a line of black bobbing forms that first looked like flotsam or driftwood entangled in kelp. But upon closer inspection, the adorable faces of a raft of playful sea otters, their hind feet pointing toward the sky, rewarded us with a show.

Sea otters are commonly spotted in Alaska. They are the largest member of the weasel family and one of the smallest marine mammals on Earth. They can live their entire life without leaving the water. Its fur is the densest of any animal on Earth — an estimated 1 million hairs per square inch. That’s because, unlike its fellow marine mammals, it has no blubber to keep it warm. The sea otter must consume between 25 and 40 percent of its body weight daily, just to keep warm. They gorge on more than 100 different prey species. Sea otters do not migrate far. Their rafts, usually comprised of a single sex, can range from as few as 10 individuals to as high as 1,000. To keep from drifting apart while they snooze, sea otters often sleep holding paws. And they are just damn adorable.