Ketchikan i.e. catch me if you can

Besides our adventurous and surprising (for me) helicopter ride in Alaska, we also signed up for a two hour Sea Kayaking excursion in Ketchikan. Bundled in life jackets and warm clothes, Raphael and I shared a two person kayak and really tore up the water. We were actually pretty good, we didn't take many breaks and mirrored each others strokes. However, no matter how fast we paddled or angled our oars, this older couple in a red kayak kept zipping into the lead. The woman counterpart of the duo wasn't even paddling much, yet they kept beating us. Not that it was a race or anything, but we're the competitive sort ;) Turns out the guy has been kayaking for years and knows his stuff. We took solace in the fact that we were at least kept far ahead of the other younger couple, phew.




Along our glide, we eagerly kept an eye out for bears since they are known to swim in the area and fish for salmon. We saw plenty of pink salmon on this trip after going to a hatchery and salmon bake, but no bears. Others on our cruise saw some black bears during other wildlife trips that they took on land though. We did, however, see two American Bald Eagles, which was pretty impressive with their white heads and seeing our country's bird soar overhead. We first spotted a couple of bald eagles up in the tree (apparently they mate for life) as we took pictures and paddled past they stuck out their chests and seemed to be watching us just as closely. We later saw one take flight:

The sky looks dark, but we went early in the morning, 6 a.m. but reached the lake around 7ish. It ended up sprinkling a bit but it felt good since we had worked up a sweat keeping up with the older dude in his kayak.

PS: The day after I returned home (Monday) I attended a WB advanced screening of Jodie Foster's new film The Brave One. I wasn't prepared for the intensity of it or the blood, but it was really good. You can read my review at Film School Rejects.