{First posted Jul 9. Additonal photos and commentary added here.}
After steaming over from Hoonah in the wee hours of the morning, we cleared into the Glacier Bay Park and tied up at Bartlett Cove to have breakfast at the lodge and look around. The whale skeleton is massive, and the information in the display area of the visitor center is extensive.
After breakfast, we headed out again and ran all the way up the west side and tucked in behind Russell Island for the night. This was our first time we needed to stern tie, and we quickly learned that I had put barely enough line on board for this task. We added 300ft of line the next chance I got.
After a night on anchor, we headed out in the morning for a long day of sight seeing around five glaciers -- Margaritte, Grand Pacific, John's Hopkins, Reid, Lampaugh. See gallery below.
Having pretty much seen the west arm, we headed down to the base of the east arm at South Sandy Cove. And, given the motor and generator restrictions in the park, we realized that there was very little in the east arm that we could access since we were not carrying kyaks and were not a sailboat. So we decided to leave the park on day three and take in a few more stops west of Glacier Bay that were not on our original plan.
I will never forget a few things from this visit. The enourmity of nature. How 'little' we are. And neverthless, how much negative impact we have all had on nature and the climate. I don't think anyone can look at the rapid glacier retreat and come to any other conclusion.
