The Mendenhall Glacier, just north of Juneau. Within our own Alaska experience over the last 15 years, we have seen this glacier recede about 1/2 mile to its current state. Amazing. To be clear, I'm not saying that glaciers receding is necessarily bad. 280 years ago, the Tlingit lived in Glacier Bay enjoying warm summers and temperate winters. Only 250 years ago, Glacier Bay was covered by a glacier over a mile thick. That's only a 30-year span. This is how quickly glaciers can grow and recede. My comment is aimed at appreciating the change, not the state.
We got underway at 0447 (4:47am) this morning. This is John hauling the anchor.
I took this photo from inside (I like inside, nice invention) so the yellow spots are reflections from the interior lights.
As we exited Fingers Cove and rounded the point heading down towards the exit of Glacier Bay.
This was our last day (and only a partial one at that) in Glacier Bay.
We are off to Funter Bay or Auke Bay. We will decide once we are out in Icy Strait.
Captain Susan commands the helm. You can tell by the look on her face that this is serious stuff!
Wow, just wow. I've never seen Icy Strait so peaceful and flat before. I timed our departure to catch favorable currents, and boy did I. We had a 5knot push down Glacier Bay, a 2-knot push east in Icy Strait, and a 1.5-knot push all the way into Auke Bay. We were making such great time, we kept on going to Auke Bay, arriving at 1400 (2:00pm). We were a jet!
This is what happens when we depart at 0447...
And I wasn't the only one...
Once rested, Susan made lunch. Smoked Salmon, sour cream, capers, sliced red onion, over crackers. OMG, I think that is one of the best flavor experiences I've ever had. That salmon was perfect! Another shout out to Allen & Ellen for giving us their personal stash of smoked salmon.
That look says it all. Wow.
We rounded Point Retreat at the north end of Admiralty Island, by Juneau. Point Retreat was named by Joseph Whidbey on July 19, 1794, because of his need to retreat from local Tlingit. Note to self, don't piss-off the local people.
Getting the docklines and power cable set. In Auke Bay they run the power cables up and over the docks like in the picture (yellow cable). Very odd way to do this.
Once the boat was parked and all tied up, we headed off to the Harbormaster's office to check-in and then to the Mendenhall Glacier.
We hailed a Lyft and Lydia picked us up at the Harbormasters office. She was great. She offered to collect us from the glacier park when we were done. We took her up on that generous offer.
John... What can I say?
Romantic photo for their scrap book!
At the Mendenhall Glacier, just north of Juneau.
Hiking to Nugget Falls by the glacier.
And Nugget Falls, with the usual suspects.
Flora along the trail.
Douglas Fir.
Whatever you do, don't hug this plant! Look at those needle-sharp spines all along the stems. Oweee!
Beautiful little flowers.
Buttercup anyone?
Look and the glacier-carved swirls in this rock. Amazing!
Zen Moment warning...
Goofing off at selfie-time at the Mendenhall Glacier.
The US Dept of the Interior Park Service was here. They provide a great service, experience, access, and care for our national shared geographic and cultural treasures.
On the way back to the boat, Lydia dropped us off at the local pub, Forbidden Peak Brewery. Nice view over the harbor. Then we walked back to the boat.
Somewhere a penguin is mortified. John in his penguin lounging pants. I have to go blind myself now...
A few of our marina neighbors. We are definitely bringing down the average.
A Pho dinner par excellence! Chez Karen was masterful. Perfect spice and savoy flavors.
Sunset in Auke Bay.
Here are the routes and places we stayed in Glacier Bay. All-in, that's about 400 miles in Glacier Bay proper, and about 550 miles since John & Susan joined us.
Playing with propane again. My manifold was all bolted down so it cannot move. Last year when we closed out the season it was all fine. When we got aboard a few days ago, Karen said she smelled propane. Leaping into action, I chased the smell to the propane locker. After much fiddling, I discovered it was both the manifold and the regulator. The manifold fittings were all loose and if I held the flashlight at just the right angle, I could see the density waves of propane flowing out of the regulator vent. How can this happen? Regardless, it is now all fixed and my locker is clean (soapy water at close to 50/50 mix is a pretty good, if not goopy cleaner). All tightened, fittings are taped with yellow teflon tape + blue PFTE compound, tightened hand-tight + 1 turn with a wrench. So far, we haven't smelled more propane nor have we blown up. My next project is to replace this domest...
That's the sound of the steady rain and they tink & plink into the water, or pitter-patter according to Google Gemini. It is entrancingly beautiful. Today started out just as the weather forecasters had promised. The rain cleared-up by 1100 (11:00am) and the winds died down to an acceptable 15 knots. We left Green Island Anchorage and headed north. We passed this point (Kwakume Point in Fitz Hugh Sound) where there were 3 humpbacks breaching, fin-slapping, and spy-hopping. Unfortunately, they were too far away to capture with the camera. To be clear, we do not chase the whales nor approach them. They have to come to us - that is their choice. Yup, that's Captain Karen at the helm. You always have to keep vigilant for logs and rafts of kelp that float around. Today, this stuff was everywhere, it was difficult to steer clear of it all. Perhaps the storms over the last few days washed this out of the mountains or ...
A mature and an immature bald eagle. I'm going to guess, mom & kid, but I don't know my bald eagles very well. As I mentioned in my blog from yesterday, we delayed our departure for a day in the hope that the local Safeway Pharmacy would get my prescription delivered. And they did! I got a call from the Pharmacist, Norma, who said they had just received it. I can't say enough kind things about Norma; she was super helpful and very courteous to me. It rained on & off for most of the day. That meant inside chores. There is always work to be done aboard. Then we spent the afternoon reading on the fly bridge and listening to the soft white noise of the rain. I was voluntold that I was chef for the day. Cool. That usually means something Chinese. Here, I'm preparing tonight's sumptuous repast by chopping green beans, red peppers, red onions, scallions, shallots, ginger, tons of garlic, and chic...
As we exited Fingers Cove and rounded the point heading down towards the exit of Glacier Bay.
Captain Susan commands the helm. You can tell by the look on her face that this is serious stuff!
Hiking to Nugget Falls by the glacier.
And Nugget Falls, with the usual suspects.
Comments
Post a Comment