Lesson 1 (Tleix') : Hello Alaska!

Welcome to Alaska's Inland Passage. Here is a map of North America. Alaska is the green blob in the upper left. It is not even attached to the rest of the United States!


Look at the arrow on the road map of Alaska. We are here.
(Of course you want to know where Dutch Harbor is from “The Deadliest Catch”. I put an arrow there too.)



Here are 10 facts about Alaska:
1. The area that is now Alaska used to be owned by Russia. In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H. Seward offered them $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for the land. Many people thought Seward was crazy and called the purchase “Seward’s Folly.” People changed their mind when prospectors discovered gold a few years later. Here is a picture of the canceled check.



2. Alaska produces 25% of American oil.
3. Most of America's salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska.
4. Dog mushing is the official state sport.
5. Alaska has the fewest number of people per square mile.
6. We thought Colorado had mountains! 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States are in Alaska.
7. Alaska is larger than the next four largest states combined.
8. In one spot, Alaska is only 50 miles from Russia.
9. Look at the road map above. There aren’t many roads! It is estimated Alaska has six times as many pilots and 16 times as many aircraft than any other state.
10. Alaska has more coast line than all the lower 48 combined.


There are lots of airplanes in Alaska, but they have cars too. License plates give us information about what is important to a state.




The native people in this area are called Tlingit. They are actively trying to preserve their language so let’s help them.

Each lesson number is in the native tlingit language. Click on the link to the right. You’ll be able to hear what their language sounds like.

Click here then roll over the Inland Passage. Who were the first settlers in this region?

Lesson 2 (Deix): What to Pack for a Temperate Rainforest?

Southeastern Alaska is in a temperate rainforest. This means we will need to pack different clothes than what we might wear in Colorado. Even though it is June we should expect rain, mud and cool temperatures.
Get our your suitcase. Here is a packing list:
Boots for mud, puddles and getting on and off the zodiac boat. We land in shallow water.


Rain gear for… ummm... rain…..
Hat for sun and wind
Gloves for warmth and kayaking
Binoculars for spotting all sorts of wildlife.



Jeans. Lots of jeans. Plan to return home with lots of dirty jeans.



Fleece for warmth. Don't forget sunscreen.


See you there!

Lesson 3 (Nas'k) : Bald Eagles

Let's play 'I Spy'. I spy a Bald Eagle on my dollar bill.

Did you find him? Doesn't he look regal? Let's get a little closer.

I spy 13 arrows in his talon representing the 13 original colonies. I spy a banner in his beak that says "E Pluribus Unum". This means "Out of many, one," in Latin. This reminds us that people from many different countries make up our nation.

The Bald Eagle is our national bird. When we visited southeast Alaska we saw lots of Bald Eagles. We saw them soaring in the sky, hunting for food, sitting in their nest, hanging out on rooftops and, of course, squawking. Half of the world’s bald eagles live in Alaksa. Bald eagles, just like Kennedys, love freshly caught salmon!

Bald eagles are known as “birds of prey.” They spy their meal from the air then swoop down to grab it with sharp talons. Strong, pointed beaks make it easy to rip apart all sorts of small mammals. The official name for this kind of bird is a raptor. The raptor family also includes hawks, owls and falcons.

In Sitka, Alaska we had the chance to visit a bald eagle hospital, the Alaska Raptor Center. Miss G took this picture during the information session.

Notice how the 'real' eagle is all fluffy? He had just taken a bath in his water dish and was drying his feathers. I bet you can't guess how much this Bald Eagle weighs.
Go head guess....
Nope. You're wrong.
Twelve pounds! Birds have hollow bones and feathers are very lightweight.

The Alaska Raptor Center cares for and then releases injured raptors. Most of the injuries are related to humans. They get hit by cars. They fly into power lines. Occasionally they are shot with guns or eat a poison. Injured animals are brought to this center and given the care they need to return to the wild. Here is an X-ray and information about some Bald Eagles they helped and released to live in the wild.


We had a chance to get close to these strong creatures. Check out a beak.

Check out the wing span.
Check out a lunch option. (photo curstosy of J-Dude.)

Check out a skull. Notice the huge eye sockets?


Miss G accidently dropped her lens cap in the outdoor rehabilitation area. One of the center's volunteers went in to get it. Mr. Eagle was not happy to have someone in his space.

Sorry Mr. Eagle. So sorry.

Click here to find out the following: Are Bald Eagles bald? What do Bald Eagles eat besides fish? Which bird did Benjamin Franklin think was a better choice for our national bird other than a Bald Eagle? What do you call a baby eagle?

Lesson 4 (Daax'oon): Bears

There are lots ‘o bears in Alaska. Black bears. Brown/Grizzly bears. Polar bears. Panda bears. (Just kidding about the panda bears. I wanted to make sure you are paying attention.)

Never get this close to a real bear.



Or this close.



Whenever we went out on hikes we whooped and clapped a lot to scare them away. No good could come of startling a wild bear. This is about how close you want to get to a bear in the wild.


We floated in our zodiac to get a good look at this mama and three cubs. They rolled about eating grass, but make no mistake, mama kept her eye on us. Our boatswain wouldn’t let us get any closer because bears are good swimmers!

In Alaska they warn you about bears.



In Colorado, not so much…. Mr. Jim, Dude and Miss G. had an interesting encounter with a bear along side the road while, ahem, relieving themselves. I’m sure they would be happy to share the story if asked.

Click here to find out the difference between black bears, brown/grizzly bears, grizzly bears and panda bears (still kidding about the pandas.) Can you pass the website's test?

Lesson 5 (Keijin): Scavenger Hunt

Today our Naturalists gave us a scavenger hunt. Here is our list and a magnifying glass.



Honestly, we found all the items on the list, but I’m going to share with you the most exciting.

Let’s begin our hike. Miss G will lead the way.



We don’t have far to go before finding four different greens. Can you name the different plants?



Here is the heart shaped leaf.



Miss G thought this lichen looked like an old man’s hair.



We found lots of evidence of bears
This is the grass we saw the bears munching on yesterday.



Paw prints! Compare a bear paw to my hand.



Yummy! Skunk cabbage! Bears rip it up and eat the roots. Dude is looking at the mess they made. Ask your mom to make you some tonight!



Here is some bear poo.




Here is some more bear poo. That big boy or girl has been eating lots of grass.



In case you didn’t get enough…. Bear poo.



You can learn a lot about bears from their poo! You can see what they have been eating and about how big the bear. Click here for a whole website devoted to animal poo or scat. Warning: not for those who get queasy when looking at poo.

Miss G also found an Eagle feather.




Oh, more bear poo. There is a lot of bear poo in Alaska.

Lesson 6 (Tleidooshu): Navigation

Since we were cruising southeast Alaska, we were on a boat. Our boat was a fairly small cruise ship, but still, our captain was aware of how deep the water was. Second in command, Lucinda, aka Lucy, showed the kids how they used a nautical map to navigate.


What are they looking at? Let's get in closer. Can you read the handwriting?



Knowing how to read a nautical map is important. Getting lost or stuck would be no fun…

Do you want to know what IS fun? A zodiac! Zodiacs are heavy duty inflatable boats used by the U.S. Navy, marine search and rescue operations, scientific research and nature loving tourists like us.



Our fleet of zodiacs lived on top of the M.V. Sea Lion.



Each day the crew used a big crane to get them down and ready.


We zipped to shore for kayaking, hiking and exploring the tides. One time our zodiac floated close to the shore so we could get a good look at a mama bear and her three cubs eating grass.

On the last day our very (very, very, very) patient boatswain took the kids out to learn how to drive the zodiac. Let’s take a ride with Miss G.


Nice job, girlie.
Your turn J-Dude.
Wow. Whiplash. Knotted hair. Bruises on my bottom. Did I mention how patient our boatswain was?

Check out what J-Dude and Miss G earned. Watch out Alaska….

Lesson 7 (Daxadooshu): Cool plants!

Plants grow BIG in southeast Alaska. It is like there is Miracle-Gro in the soil! Or, more likely, the plants get a ton of rain (it is a rainforest) and have adapted to a short growing season. Mr. Jim and Dude walked through the forest. BIG trees.



This flower is not Queen Anne’s Lace, but it sure looks like it. It’s as BIG as my head!



BIG poppies! I love poppies!





Here are some plants I wish weren’t so big.
Skunk cabbage. My that is some BIG skunk cabbage.



This BIG, horrible, thorny plant was everywhere in the forest. Rich, one of our guides, told us not to touch it. If a thorn got lodged in your skin it would fester and be sore for months.



Here are two plants we found in Alaska. No they are not BIG – and maybe I’m glad.
My I present to you the ‘Chocolate Lily’?



Ahhh. Beautiful to behold and one of only a few brown flowers in the world. Chocolate Lily roots apparently are tasty when cooked.
I found out that other names for this flower are Skunk Lily, Dirty Diaper and Outhouse Lily. This plant relies on flies for pollination! With that in mind I casually suggested Miss G smell it. She got in close.



How was it Miss G?



“Like an unclean port-a-potty!”
(I like to trick Miss G on occasion. Hee, hee, hee. Some moms like to do that.)

I did not trick Miss G with this flower, the SunDew. This pretty, marsh growing plant is carnivorous! It eats insects!



Each hair sticking up has a little drop of sticky liquid. Insects think little drops of sticky liquid are cool and soon get caught. The leaf folds around the critter then secretes juices to digest it.

I was so excited to find some digesting in action! See the fly? It is wrapped in a leaf near the center of my photo. Poor fly.



Click here to watch a short video about carnivorous plants, including the sundew at work.