The work day is long out at the lodge, but we took time between dinner and bed to get the canoe wet.

The lagoon is protected, so the water is often smooth and glass-like, just the way I like it. I’m fond of water reflections as you might guess from Termination Dust and the H in The Great Outdoors.

More than once, we saw bears on the bank. We also saw two coyotes one night, but you’ll have to take my word for it. And, of course, seals, sea otters, and salmon. Some day, maybe Mike will take a good camera out and get some good pictures.

We rode the high tide into the upper lagoon late one misty evening and canoed among towering icebergs.

We even paddled over one. That’s one iceberg on both sides of the canoe; it’s connected below the water. Yes, we’re aware of the potential danger of drifting so close to these mammoth ice cubes. I’m really a chicken, and aside from my morbid imaginings, I felt comfortable that the risk was low.

It was surreal, quiet, still, dim, cold. The wind and water through the bergs made strange, other-world sounds. The ice created a maze that sometimes trapped us so we had to turn around or back up. It was late. We were tired. Our minds drifted as the canoe did.

It was never the same trip twice.