From Anchorage, where I was on perpetual standby, we stopped briefly at King Salmon to fuel-up. After about an hour, I opened the window and was shocked: snow covered mountains as far as the eye could see. It was like being on the plane over the red Namibian Desert- shocking.
As the little plane pulled in to Dutch, the mountains had given way to huge hills with green rounded domes and vertical rock cliffs. I saw what I thought was a kayak-er, but quickly realized it was a whale tail. To convey what it was like flying in, think of Jurassic Park, when the helicopter arrived on the island. Just like that- just not as many trees. I stole this picture off the web:
In town there are eagles everywhere (everywhere). Not only are they fearless of people, they can be really aggressive when they're nesting. There are warning signs in areas they are known to have attacked people.
There are lots of hills to climb, but it's hard, cause they have vertical edges, so you've got to know where to start.
I've played in the tidal pools, and found starfish, little hermit crabs and barnacles. While I love these rocky beaches, it makes me appreciate the diversity of the Western Cape all the more. There, every rock I turned over yielded something new. Still though, I'm not trying to take anything away from this paradise. If I find a nice mountain man, I may not come back.
