Friday Funny 10-12/2021 (Otters, Moose, and Bears, Oh My!)

 Our next anchorage was the no name cove at the head of Tracy Arm. Many boats use this small cove as a jumping off point to the Sawyer Glacier. Here's a vessel we shared it with.

Check out the line of "toys" tied in behind, jet skis, and kayaks for guests. When underway, all the toys are stowed inside a garage in the aft section of the boat.

Note the size of the 50ft boat in the distance, and the float plane that is bringing a new set of guests. Even though this was a large charter vessel, they were very respectful of others, their genset was super quiet, and their guests left the cove to zoom around on the jet skis.

We cruised to Juneau, so I could fly to Anchorage for a week of family, and fun. We stayed at my brother's cabin on Big Lake, (an hour north of Anchorage), and enjoyed popcorn, margaritas, and good company.

An incredible rainbow one evening, it circled all around, and reflected in the water.

A side story. My earliest memory is falling off of a dock at Big Lake when I was two years old, my two older brothers hauled me out of the water. I can still see the weed covered pilings in my memory, and you can imagine how this event has colored my reaction/interactions with bodies of water ever since. Believe it or not, I'm not really a "water person". This is the dock.

I returned back to Denali Rose, and we left Auke Bay headed towards Glacier Bay. The weather started out calm, and then we rounded Mansfield Peninsula on Admiralty Island. 

This is the area where Lynn Canal, Icy Strait, and North Chatham meet. Wind, waves, chop... we were taking waves over the top of the dodger, and bimini, and we were estimating 5-7 foot waves on very short intervals. Gus was very seasick while I held him in the cockpit. Poor kitty.

Bill duct taped the cabinets in the galley closed so they wouldn't bang open, and shut. We took refuge in Swanson Harbor on a state float, and that was the end of the rocking and rolling.

Gus was a much happier kitty on our way to Glacier Bay the next day.

Gus is comfy in Bill's fleece.

At the entrance to Glacier Bay, we were surprised by a major migration of sandhill cranes.

We saw flock after flock of cranes overhead, it was thrilling. If I were to estimate how many birds flew by, I'd say over 500. So cool. 

We love going to Glacier Bay in September/October. Most of the restrictive rules have ended, and almost all of the tourist, and cruise ships are gone. 

Otters are always cute.

We knew there was another storm coming, so we found a good bight at the then of Geikie Inlet, and set the anchor well. This isn't a well used anchorage, but we saw wildlife everyday, and even with the storm, we enjoyed our time. 

The glacier across the bay.

Black bear fishing

FAT brown bear

Getting ready for a nap on the beach

We saw bears everyday, sometimes multiple bears, at a time. 

And moose, we had two bulls come down to the waterline to forage. That's kind of unusual, moose typically eat willow, aspen, leaves, bark, and twigs. I didn't think they would eat kelp. We also had the usual company of porpoise, and otter.

My new favorite Glacier Bay hat. 😀

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