Narrow Cape Whale Watching

It's that time of year again!  That would be the annual gray whale migration.  We went whale watching around this time last year too, but we didn't have any luck.  This year was a whole different story.

Our whale watching perch at Narrow Cape on the cliffs above Fossil Beach

The sheer distance that the gray whales travel is unfathomable.  It's a pretty amazing feat to think that every year they swim over 10,000 miles round-trip between Mexico's nursery lagoons and feeding grounds in the Bering Sea.

In their travels, they pass by Narrow Cape every April.  - We can easily drive to Narrow Cape and hope to catch a glimpse of them as they swim by.  And this year was rock star!

One of the dozens of spouts we saw throughout the day

We saw over a dozen whales off the cliffs above Fossil Beach when we took a drive out there a few weeks ago.  I saw my first whale breach in person that day - it was fabulous.  We were still down on the beach and hadn't hiked up to the cliffs yet when I saw an enormous dark mass heave itself out of the water and crash back down into a massive splash.  It was far from the shore, but not so far away that you didn't know what it was.  Very cool.

As we hiked along we saw dozens of spouts all along the shoreline, and at one point were treated to a tail flipping up out of the water.  But mostly it was spouts and the occasional long, sleek back popping up.

Not easy to capture pictures of, I tell ya!  This was about the best one I managed to eek out of the day.  Not exactly compelling, but what can you do? 

Hooray whales!

As always, the scenery above Fossil Beach was gorgeous.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  Kodiak is absolutely stunning - when the sun shines. The latter part of that sentence is the critical part.

Because as I've also mentioned many times before, it rains a lot in Kodiak.  And if it's not raining, it's more than likely overcast.  We're talking about a place that has approximately 130 sunny days per year.  So that means over 200 days of rain or clouds.  Doesn't that sound just peachy?

I admit, I might be a tad bit sun deprived.  And slightly bitter about it.  Which is why these seemingly few and far between sunny days are fantabulastic.  Yes.  Made up word good.

We lucked out with our sunny Sunday, and it truly was an unforgettable day.  The unadulterated appreciation for sunshine is just inevitable living here.  Zip-a-dee-doo-da type of appreciation!

The WWII pillbox made for a good observation deck

We weren't the only ones enjoying the sunshine.  The Pugbull went crazy dog on the beach and took every opportunity he could to roll in buffalo poop.  Good times.

RAH!

Narrow Cape is even prettier in the summer, when everything is vibrantly green, but even with the brown grasses of winter/spring, it's still pretty spectacular.

Fossil Beach is one of my favorite places in Kodiak.  There's nothing quite like experiencing that captivating combination of crisp, bright air paired with magnificent mountain views.  Add in the sunshine & whale watching and it ain't a bad way to spend a Sunday.  Even if they don't like to have their pictures taken.

Ta-ta for now.

Pasagshak

We took a drive out to Pasagshak last weekend to see if we could spot any of the gray whales that are migrating past Kodiak right now.  It was a bust.  We found a spot with an outrageously commanding view of the water though, so we'll probably head back there sometime in the next few weeks to try our luck again at whale watching.  Gray whales migrate all the way from Mexico up the west coast and into the North Pacific and Bering Sea every year at this time, so we have a few more weeks to try and catch a glimpse. 

It was so nice to get out of the house since it had rained the entire day before and we pretty much stayed holed up at home.  Never an ideal way to spend a Saturday.  Pasagshak is about an hour drive from our house, with beautiful mountain and water views all along the way. 

Point A is our house, and point B is the Pasagshak, Narrow Cape and Fossil Beach area

Once we got there, we did a little off-roading to get to an accessible cliff side on Narrow Cape.  We drove about half way to the edge, parked, and then walked through an impressively buffalo poop covered field the rest of the way.  Spectacular views:

I'm all bundled up because it was super windy up there.  It cuts right through you if you don't have the right clothes on!  Thankfully, I was all set and toasty with windproof layers.  This is the spot we're planning to head back to sometime in the next few weeks to try again.  The view is elevated over a huge expanse of the water, so it's a perfect spot for whale watching.

The poop culprits - Free range Buffalo roam all over the area

We also took a walk down on Fossil Beach, which is the beach you see way down below the cliff side in the picture above.  It was a good place to let the Pugbull off his leash so he could run around.  Of course, he had a blast.  It's incredible to watch him run at full speed.

He's a fast little mother when there aren't any fences.  Hell, he's even fast when there is a fence.  You can't really tell here, but he's tearing ass down the beach in this one:

FULL SPEED!!

The hubby loves, loves, loves his truck

We decided this area might be one of our first forays into camping this summer.  I bet the night skies are unbelievable out there.  No lights whatsoever to wash out the stars.  We can rent a tent from MWR (Moral, Welfare, and Recreation) on base, and we pretty much have everything else we would need for a camping overnight.

Although, based on the condition of that field, I wouldn't be surprised if we had an early morning buffalo wake up call!  Buffalo are peaceful, right?

Fossil beach is beautiful, with black sand, all sorts of beach driftwood, lots of room to roam, and pretty intense looking surf.  Add in the mountain backdrop, and it's an impressive place to explore.

I love this picture of Cheety and the hubby.  There's something about the way all of the colors and textures compliment one another. - And the "let's go!" body language & smiling expression on that Puggy-Boy's face.  Pretty good day, even though we didn't get to see any whales.

Here's to another attempt!

Ta-ta for now.