More Glacier Bay Alaska

In lieu of a Friday Funny. We have very spotty, or nonexistent cell signal as we meander around, and I thought I would get something posted while I could.

I find this complaint form humorous.

As Bill posted in "Glacier Bay in October?", we ended up going after the busy tourist season. This means that all of the "rules" for locations, length of stay, and permits are no longer in effect. It also means that most of the whales have already gone south for warmer weather, though we still saw some distant spouts. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, so we didn't have any competition for anchoring spots.

Elsie gets a nap in the sun while underway.

We decided to go when we saw that we would have a decent weather window for a couple of days, and we were in the neighborhood. Our first stop was the National Park station in Bartlett Cove. Even though they are closed for the season, we overnighted at the dock, wandered down the deserted trails, and disposed of trash. There were still a few staff around, I suppose they were closing up facilities. They made themselves scarce every time we stepped into view. I can imagine them thinking about how they're done, and they don't have to talk to tourists anymore!

Bartlett Cove dock, and breakwater.

Bill, and Gus went out for a walk on the dock.

Park Sign

Ranger Station, lodge, guest accommodations, restaurant, and tourist stuff are all closed, but we wandered down the trails anyway. It's good to get off the boat, and stretch your legs on terra firma once in a while.

A meeting hall

Look closely

Whale skeleton

It was interesting to enjoy the place, and have it all to ourselves.

No competition to reach and read signage.

Totem

We did see bear scat on the trail, it was old, but we still kept our awareness up. I joked that the staff probably put it there to scare the tourists. 😁

Beautiful sunset, and alpenglow in this cove.

Pinks

The next morning we left in some fog, but it burned off in the morning. The day was sunny, and the scenery was spectacular!

Notice the recent rock slide on the right.

Float house

The float house was in South Sandy Cove. It's probably used by research staff judging from the looks of it, and what a great place to have a station. We moved on to North Sandy Cove, because, well, why not. No need to crowd anyone...

Entering North Sandy Cove, anchoring behind the island.

The view from the anchorage.

Our usual procedure is for Bill to go forward and deploy the anchor, and attach the bridle, and I put Denali Rose in reverse to set it.

The new forward looking sonar works great at showing us the underwater topography. After we are secure, then it's time to look around. I heard some splashing off to one side, and went to investigate.

We called them "the hoodlums".

Synchronized swimming.

There were five of them, and they never strayed from each other. They came up together, dived together, and blew air bubbles together. 

Gus cranes his neck, to see 5 sea lions swimming around the boat. "Holy Cow! What's that?"

That was fun! Now to look for the next visitors.

Black bear Mama, and baby.

"Come on Junior, hurry up."

The bears reappeared from time to time. There were otters in the cove as well, but most of them are more skittish, and don't approach for photo ops.

Keeping watch for intruders.

Gus enjoyed his view from the top of the bimini, until it was getting dark, and time to come inside.

The next day brought us wind, fog, and rain. We stayed put for the day in our protected cove, and watched the wildlife come and go. We opted not to move north, seek out another cove, or find the glaciers, as long as everything was socked in with low clouds, nothing can be seen. The second day, it was time to head out, and join up with our friends, John, and Artha on Dawn Treader V. We went back to Bartlett Cove for the night, and then joined up with them the following day.

Photo bombed by a heron.

We gave some locals a tour of Denali Rose.

Kami, and Lorelei.

It's always nice to encounter sweet, polite young ladies, and to have them aboard.

Herons

Puzzle: How many herons do you see in that photo? [Hint- more than a baker's dozen...]

All sunny days come to an end.

Elsie and I on watch in the "washing machine" of Icy Strait.