Returning visit to Hoonah, the Icy Straight, Alaska 2019/Carlos Pueblo

Returning visit to Hoonah, the Icy Straight, Alaska 2019/Carlos Pueblo

The cruise ship exit the Yakutat Bay of the Hubbard Glacier a night before to enter the Gulf of Alaska south bound to the Icy Straight to land at a small village called Hoonah. It takes a while for me to figure out the location approximately where they are the first panhandle of Alaska. The Hubbard Glacier is located between Yakutat City and Borough, and Yukon, Canada. Yakutat City, a village of 604 population, is located at the base of that handle of the Alaska Pan with almost the same latitude to Skagway to the east. The entire region including 1350 square miles Hubbard Glacier is Tongass National Forest which the Mendenhall Glacier down to Juneau, Alaska is also included. Sailing along the Gulf of Alaska at night, we didn't see any light on shore of the Glacier Bay National Park of course and skip the Glacier Bay to visit the great Glacier Bay Glacier nd visit Hoonah, Alaska instead. Juneau, the Capital City of Alaska, is on the east of Hoonah, a village of 766 population almost the same latitude with a different longitude. It is amazing that the cruise liners discovering such beautiful scenery of the world for the visitors to enjoy. I check the map provided by the National Park Service that there is a land between these two water ways, the Glacier Bay and the Lynn Canal, with plenty of glaciers, inlets due to gradually global warming etc. the most peaceful journey only the ships can make it happen.

We disembark directly to a pier newly built connected to a welcome center, an old fishery plant now a big gifts shops center and some sea foods restaurants. That pairs of bald eagles were on the top of thousands cypress tree. I believe that both of them gain some weight obviously. I marched directly to the sea coast highway toward the village center three miles away. Either the local tourists business or cruise excursions provide canoeing services on the bay, the icy straight. There are some residential houses along the highway with small front yard and some of boats repairing business to the water. I saw some licence tags from Juneau which helped to locate Hoonah, would be closed to make the economic sense.

There is another tall tree with a nest for the same bald eagle at the pier to rule the village center area; however, a local resident informed me that the new occupants were children of the pairs on the pier. The female killed her mate and had a new husband and a baby eagle on the nest. He pointed it out the white head out of the nest and I could hear the noise that the chick made. I was the one staying there most of the afternoon. There is a small yacht building port across the street of the village center library. It used to have a lady volunteer mayor to greet us and did some introduction of the village and I didn't visit her this time.

I didn't see very much business for the sea foods restaurants this time. Last visit, I saw some boiling Alaska crabs in a huge pot with draft beers by the side. I used the toilet at the ferry station which provided commute vessels across the icy straight to the other side such as Juneau. By the ferry station, there is another tall tree with a bald eagle. I believe that is the husband of the pairs at the village center and I believe that the salmons are sufficient for the five birds for the time been.