The second time, anchoring in Blue Mouse cove, the Black Cottonwood did not have any scent left at all, the cottony  seeds hang in clusters from the branches and  were covering the water surface and everywhere else, the job was done!!      The other boats left , and we stayed two nights, again, listening to the whales, shore feeding and sleeping.   This place is magical.

July 9, we are heading back to Bartlett Cove and the tribal hut.    The tide would be running hard in Sitakaday Narrows, so we took our time, we had been warned by the parks folks, that the whales shore feed in the narrows, so we were on guard. We had left at 8.30, but when we came close to the narrows, we had to wait quite a while, it was still running at 5 knots, against us, which means that we would be standing still!!!   eehh… floating still!!        We never did see one whale, must have left them all in Blue Mouse cove!!         We anchored in our “old” spot, in Bartlett cove, and headed to shore for food, a shower, laundry and more.   A hot shower is $5.00 US, yikes!!    i decided to shower on board which i had been doing all along anyways, but Bert disappeared in the shower, while i got the laundry going.        We ended up talking with a very nice young lady, Sarah, from Michigan, she was camping with her husband, he went home and she decided to get a job here at the park.      She offered to borrow a friends car and take us into Gustavus, do a bit of shopping and look around.         Bert was all done with his shower, standing outside, and all of a sudden called me over, very urgently, and there, right on the small path, was a porcupine, a very large one, waddling down the path, not looking at us at all, i called him and called him, and eventually he stopped, very slowly turned his black head and face , looked at me, as if to say, “what do you want”???     and onwards he went again!!      His quills were creamy white, and very long, very impressive, would not want to piss him off!!!!!     He made my day!!!!   The only thing is, NO PHOTO!!!!!

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We headed back to Blue Mouse Cove for anchoring, the weather still gorgeous, there were three boats anchored already so we decided to stay close to the entrance, as we came in, a very big Humpback came alongside Curtsy, quietly swam alongside us, came up for a breathe and made eye contact with me, i was at that point just about hanging over the side of the boat!!        I noticed his dorsal fin, it had two,what looked like barnacles attached to it.      I remember this well, as we saw him again and again on the trip.  I have so much to write about these magnificent animals, they stole my heart, its as if they knew , how i was traumatized, its as if they “told” me , that i was suppose to be here, suppose to meet them, the joy i felt, every time i saw them, whether it was one or a whole family, it confirmed for me, that we needed to continue this journey.      I will write a lot more about them, and show some great photos!!

The Tlingit people who live in Hoonah, tell the story of what happened in Glacier bay, a long time ago.   They did not always live in Hoonah, but occupied several villages in Glacier bay! This was way before the 1700’s .  But by  1795, the massive glacier was 4000 feet thick, 20 miles wide and extended more then 100 miles. In 1879, the ice had retreated more then 30 miles, slowly a bay was forming.   In 1916, the Grand Pacific Glacier which was the main glacier and responsible for carving out the bay, had melted 60 miles.       There is nothing written about what happened here, but the Tlingit have great stories of the happenings, the elders pass the stories on , and its very worthwhile to listen carefully when they speak.       Continue reading →

The Grand Pacific glacier is advancing slowly for the last few years, as is the Lamplugh glacier, this is my most favorite one, it calves quite often, and it did when we were floating around in front of it, Lamplugh glacier is fed by the Brady Ice field which is why it still advancing at quite the rapid speed.   It is a tide water glacier.   The best part really was that we could come so close to it with the boat, and, naturally, a hug chunk of ice broke off, with a loud bang, and yes, i just happened to be down below for 2 minutes!!!  GGRRRRR……           So i didnt get a photo of that but i took lots of other , great shots.  When we were floating around , to the North side of the glacier, the weather was calm, no wind at all, but when we decided to slowly move around the glacier, pointing South, a 35 knot wind hit us sideways!!!    talk about being surprised!!      This is a katabatic wind, it comes from radiational cooling of air on top of a plateau of mountain or glacier, the air will flow downwards ,gaining speed, it can actually reach hurricane speeds of wind, but the 35 knots was impressive enough!!      Katabatic comes from the Greek word katabasis , meaning descending.

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We left Reid glacier on July 7th, ready to explore into the West arm.  We motored into Tarr inlet ,towards the Grand pacific glacier and the Margerie glacier.   WE so could feel the cold coming off of the ice, the bay was manageable ,ice chunks were everywhere and we scooped up a few chunks for in our drinks later that evening.     NOT easy , to scoop them up, this ice is so heavy!!!       It also is very clear , very beautiful actually, and a piece , put into the freezer stayed clear right till now.   We could not get close to the Margerie glacier, too much ice, we were warned to not go into John Hopkins inlet as the seals had their pups, and keep them on the ice flows, as the babies do not have enough fat on them for the frigid waters.    We came as close as we could , so i could take some photos of the seals on the ice.

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We came for the glaciers, so we headed out on July 6th, towards Reid Glacier, this glacier seems to have stopped moving, there is a tremendous amount of silt and rocks at the base, we didnt dare bring the boat too close, as it became shallow very fast. So, when we had anchored, close to the entrance of the bay, i headed out in my kayak, eager to explore.    I had seen some interesting rocks and what looked like small caves on our port side, so thats where i went.       The weather, i had better tell you, was sunny!!!   and quite warm!!  i think we were being rewarded after our dreadful ordeal.     ( so glad we DID go into Glacier bay)             Bert rowed around in the dinghy , exploring at the entrance, he then rowed all the way in and met me just “under ” the glacier.         I was grateful this glacier was not calving or moving…….. Continue reading →

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We stayed two nights, taking in the beauty around us, the whales, birds, and the mountains , covered with snow.       But, the whole idea about being here are the glaciers!!        So on July 6th, we pulled up the anchor, which ended up taking well over half an hour, as the bottom in Blue Mouse Cove is all thick mud and silt.    That anchor was not going to move while we were there!         Bert had the deck wash going , while we slowly pulled all the chain in.    We decided to head to Reid Glacier.   Its also an anchorage that is safe and not too deep, with good holding we were told.

Evening view in Blue Mouse cove Continue reading →

THE QUIET ONLY BROKEN BY WHALE BREATHS!!    THAT HEAVENLY SCENT STILL IN THE AIR, BLACK COTTONWOODS, THE TREES LINE THE SHORES, I WANTED TO OVERFILL MY LUNGS ,CAPTURE FOREVER, THIS LOVELY SCENT!!     THE WHALES ARE EVERYWHERE ,THREE OF THEM ,ONE VERY BIG FELLOW, WHO COMES INTO THE BAY ALONGSIDE OUR BOAT ,SO CLOSE, I COULD HAVE TOUCHED HIM…        HE VEERS OFF TOWARDS THE OTHER TWO WHALES , LATER THAT EVENING COMES BACK, ITS ALMOST DARK, AND DISPLAYS HIS BUBBLE FEEDING ART,IT SEEMS LIKE IT IS JUST FOR US.   SLEEPING IS A CHALLENGE FOR ME THAT NIGHT, AS WITH EVERY WHALE BREATH I HEAR, I WANT TO GET UP AGAIN, TO SEE WHERE HE IS!!!    HE STAYS ALL NIGHT!!!

We couldn’t believe it, no rain!!     And for the next 6 days, we had sun, and gorgeous skies, beautiful sunsets, oh how we deserved that!!!!       The color of the water seemed otherworldly , a strange opaque green,(from the glacier runoff), together with the blue sky and the snow topped mountains, it made for an incredible view!    We took our time, heading to Blue Mouse cove, and arrived there at noon.   There were no boats there, so we picked a spot to the left shore, mainly too, because a Alaskan brown bear was feeding there from the tall grasses!     he paid no attention to us whatsoever!

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