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| Purse Seiners Competing for Fish in Icy Straits T |
As soon as we leave Icy Straits and turn the corner at Point
Gustavus, we enter Glacier Bay and for the first 30 miles or so, are traveling
in whale protected waters. No speeding
(13 Kts or less), remain one mile off shore and if you don’t, the Glacier
National Park Rangers will hail you on Channel 16, call out your vessel
by name and let you and the listening audience know that you have violated the
whale rules. Not that I was called or
anything…and really, I meant to stay 1 mile away.
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| Entering Glacier Bay |
Glacier National Park is 3.3 million acres of mountains,
glaciers, waterways and forests – it is only accessible by boat or float plane.
250 years ago, this entire 60 mile long bay was itself a glacier, pushing out
the native Tlingits and forcing them to relocate across Icy Strait to the city
of Hoonah. One native we spoke to
lamented the fact that they were pushed out by nature and now the glaciers have
retreated.
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| 360 Degrees of This Beauty |
We were lucky enough to snag a permit to enter the park –
just 25 boats are allowed in at a time. Vessels
entering must first report to the ranger station at Bartlett Cove, where their
operators are required to attend a 45 minute orientation. A video gives us the
history of the park, reiterates the rules (no dogs on shore), and tells us
where mountain goats have been sighted, the puffins' favorite hangout and the
fact that the bears are particularly aggressive this year. Great.
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| Are You Looking at Me? |
Our trip north to the
first anchorage is filled with nature sightings, grizzlies are roaming the
shore, sea otters frolicking in the water and in the distance, with my
binoculars, I see several whales. Excitedly,
I turn to tell Jim and as I look to my left, a whale surfaces right next to our
boat. All this time spent glued to my
binocs and I almost fail to see what is right in front of me.
We spend the first night safely tucked into Shag Cove and
the next morning, while we are having our coffee, we spot a black wolf
meandering along the shore line. As we
proceed north in search of the glaciers, we get a radio call from Mellow
Moments, our cruising friends from BC to Ketchikan. 25 boats in the park - what are the chances we
would both be here at the same time? Excitedly
we exchange wild life sighting stories, as thrilled as kids at Disneyland.
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| Glacier Chunks Floating |
The mountains in
Glacier Bay Park are simply unbelievable, unbelievable
– they go on for miles and miles, actually, 60 miles from the entrance to the
northern most head of the bay. The
vastness and majesty is humbling. 3,000 – 4,000 foot snow covered jagged peaks in
every direction you peer, all of it drenched in sunlight with the turquoise milky
waters glistening as far as your eyes will take you.
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| Glacier Chunks in Turquoise Waters |
Just when we think we can’t possibly stand this much beauty
any more we are jolted out of our reverie by the hundreds of ice chunks
floating all around us as we near Margerie Glacier. We slow to a putter and hear the deafening
clickity-clack of the ice careening off the boat and then, as the chunks get
bigger, kerthunk, crash, grind. This is
not for the faint of heart and having heard stories about boaters props chewed
up by the ice, my knees turn noddle-ly and we veer 180 degrees out of the
ice-choked inlet and back into safer waters.
We spend the day ogling 3 different tide water glaciers, each one in an
ice- strewn inlet – so we view from a distance. When we later admit our
cowardice to Gay and Wyman, they say everyone feels that way the first time but
you get used to it.
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| Glacier in Foreground |
The next day is a wild-life bonanza at S. Marble Island -
hundreds of sea lions draping themselves on top of each other and over the
small rocky island – raucously barking and groaning like boisterous old
drunks. We circle the small island and see
seagulls perched by the hundreds and eagles roosting as well. When we are just
a little past the island, we spot the puffins lounging in the water, all white
and yellow faces and orange beaks. My
life is complete now.
Our last night in Glacier Park we anchor in Bartlett Cove,
the ranger station, and take a one-mile hike in the woods. After all the snow and icy glaciers, it’s
soothing to be surrounded by a forest of deep greens. A ranger on the path tells us he just spotted
a moose. The wild-life authorities tagged it with an orange collar to aid the
study of their habitat. We search high
and low, tip-toeing and whispering – but no moose.
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| Awwww..... |
After dinner at the lodge, located near the rangers station,
we decide to take a stroll along the shore. Just as we are at the crest of a
hill about to start the trail, I spot a moose in the distance grazing at the
waters edge. Armed with a camera and an
appalling lack of ability to see anything that is directly in front of me, I
race off ahead of Jim to snap some photos but now I can’t find the darn moose. Jim, who is behind me, whistles me back, as I
have stormed right past said moose, who is a mere 3 yards to my right. She is not camera shy and while she ruthlessly
rips at the tree height foliage, we get some good shots of a mug only a mother
could love. A perfect day.
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| Sunset in Barlett Cove |
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