Summer!

Alaskans tell me that this has been an extraordinarily cold and wet summer, but today, on my last full day in Alaska, summer seems finally to have arrived. It's sunny and warm and beautiful. After paddling past the Tree Point Lighthouse I was curious to go ashore and get a closer look. It's pretty rocky and exposed in front, but I found a lagoon out back that might work. The problem was that the tide was going out, so if I lingered long I'd likely get trapped until the next high tide. I went ashore and made an attempt to bushwhack to the lighthouse, but had to turn around and leave without seeing it up close in order to get safely away.

As I left the lagoon, a pod of three orcas was working the rocks about 100' outside the lagoon entrance. I normally try to keep my distance from orcas, but given that retreating to the lagoon wasn't a good idea, I paddled out and proceeded slowly, allowing the orcas to gradually get farther away.