An afternoon cruising Cape Kekyrnyi........................

Click pics to enlarge

This is Russian bear country - a beach to go fishing, hills to climb, small woods to rest or hide.

Some exciting bear viewing happened here, at the beach................this Zodiac 

ahead of us looks very close to that bear at the 

waterline, right of the boat, but they were actually some distance from the shore.

............these were the best pics I managed to get.  

We were a long way off from the beach.....

.........these creatures are huge and can move incredibly 

fast for their size.

He was soon bored with us clicking away and turned to climb over the log and made his way up the snowy cliff.

A little rest, one last look back and then he was gone from view.

There is an amazing Sea Lion colony here at Cape Kekyrnyi - 

this pic above shows a gigantic maned male with large teeth 

which I guess is why they call them Sea LIONS!

A male with his harem.

There was also a large pod of Orcas (Killer Whales)......

....a nesting pair of Steller's Sea Eagles, click HERE to see closeups of the largest eagles in the world......

......thousands of pairs of nesting seabirds.......

.......and surprise, surprise, just around a rocky headland......

.....our great chef, sitting in the back of a Zodiac, with a group of his galley staff, casting a line for fresh fish for the evening meal - lovely!

A really wonderful place for wildlife, a super day on the water, but soon it was time to return to the ship - and on this day a nice smooth boarding thankfully!

Next stop: Petropavlovsk (Peter and Paul), a city of volcanoes, mountains and earthquakes!

Where will you celebrate?

Photo taken from my sightseeing flight over Mt. Lassen National Park and Lake Almanor - August 2011.

We'll be flying here to visit beautiful Lake Almanor to celebrate the Fourth of July. The following day we'll also be celebrating Bob's birthday. Then we head to Portland, Oregon specifically to visit a wonderful longtime blog friend.......I am so excited! Don't you love meeting up with friends you've corresponded with online via your blog? Guess these delightful meetings constitute modern day 'pen pal' friendships. Hope to be sharing our meeting with you later. From there we'll continue north to Washington State for a quick visit with dear friends in Bellingham, then fly home from Seattle.

"There's no place like home" - is there?
My garden last Summer.

Wherever you are celebrating on Independence Day, have a wonderful holiday. If you are not American-born, but a naturalized citizen, be thankful for the great honor of living in this country after arriving the correct way, and going through the earned process to gain citizenship - as I did. Please pray for America's future - she definitely needs our prayers at this time in history.

New Boston, New Hampshire - 4th of July 2010
One of the best 'old timey' Independence Day parades.

Listvenichaya Bay, Kamchatka....................

June 1, 2013
Partly Cloudy
Gentle N breeze
6C/42F

Leaving the small, remote Kuril Islands, we headed to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The islands provide a transition from the temperate to sub-antarctic zone, the northern and central Kurils being icebound in Winter, while the southernmost islands closest to Japan support dense stands of forest and bamboo.

Click pics to enlarge.

The 1000 km long KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, dangling across from Alaska between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea, is often referred to as the 'land of smoking volcanoes'. some 300 volcanoes can be found on this peninsula known as Russia's Far East Region. About the size of England, Scotland and Wales together, Kamchatka's unbelievable landscape is made up of two parallel volcanic mountain ranges.............

......8:00 AM and Caledonian Sky approaches its anchorage 

off Listvenichaya Bay.

BEARS: Mother bear with two cubs silently crossing the snowy mountainside...............Kamchatka is best known for abundance and size of its brown bears, also wolf, arctic fox, lynx, wolverine, sable, ermine and river otter. 

Pic via Paula (who has a bigger, better lens than me!)

SALMON: Kamchatka contains the world's greatest diversity of salmon and it is estimated a quarter of all Pacific salmon originates here. In response to pressure from poaching and the worldwide decrease in salmon stocks, some 9,300 sq mi along nine of the more productive salmon rivers, are in the process of being set aside as nature preserves....thank you Russian Federation.

Just in case you're sweltering in these early Summer days in your area, and perhaps need a little respite from blazing sunshine ..................I know you'll enjoy seeing our cool, misty landings, surrounded by the snow-capped (some active) volcanoes.

This small river flowed out into the sea from the lake below...

We were permitted to walk along a small portion of the shore but the printed warning on the Daily Program stated............

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS AN AREA WHERE BEARS MAY BE PRESENT, SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO STAY WITH YOUR GROUP AND NOT WALK ALONE!

One of our Zodiac drivers was able to enter the river and 

cruise on the lake............

....the remainder waited offshore, and I was able to 

get some shots along the beach.

A perfect beach morning even though swimming and sunbathing were not part of it! Just the scenery was enough. Constant earthquakes occur daily in this area.....we didn't feel them. Back on the ship it was nice enough to enjoy lunch on the deck with the beautiful scenery surrounding us still.

Next time, afternoon cruising Cape Kekyrnyi - awesome sea lions, and we get closer to bears!