August 1 – 5 – Glacier Bay

To say we had a wonderful time in Glacier Bay is an understatement.  Bookend between a bit of clouds and wind at the start of the trip and mist and fog and the end of the trip were three absolutely gorgeous days.

Glacier Bay is quite deep, probably 50+ miles from the entrance to its head at the end of Tarr Inlet. We anchored in three different locations. North Finger Bay on August 1, Reid Inlet on August 2 and North Sandy Cove on August 3 and 4.

In the lower part of Glacier Bay we saw lots of sea otters.  They look just like the adorable videos on TV and the ones in the aquariums.  You see them floating out in the middle of the on their backs grooming their fur or eating the food they have gathered from the bottom.

Speaking of otter food, the locals talk about how the sea otters have put a significant dent in the crabbing in areas in which they are living. We can say from first hand experience that our crabbing attempts in Glacier Bay yielded absolutely nothing.

Rather than give a dull recounting of our day by day activities, I will let photos of the park speak for themselves.

 

 

The day of our entry. We bought the “high-vis” rain jackets in Ketchikan when our “lower 48” rain gear proved inadequate for the Alaska climate.

 

 

 

 

The welcoming committee for Glacier Bay (yes, every bump is a sea otter).

 

 

The views as you cruise north in Glacier Bay.

 

 

 We were able to get very (1/2 mile) close to the glacier terminus of several tide water glaciers. Below is a stitched image of eight photos taken of the glacier terminus.

 

 

The anchorage in the photo to the left, Reid Inlet, was simply stunning. The glacier at the end of the inlet does not extend to the water but nearly so. We felt like we were anchored in the mountains.

 

 While cruising to our final anchorage in the park, North Sandy Cove (photo right, above), we had great whale encounter with a pod of five feeding humpback whales. We probably sat for fifteen minutes drifting with the engine off watching the whales dive repeatedly within a half-mile of the boat.