Monday, September 21, 2020
Rounding Cape Couverden into Icy Strait on our way to Glacier Bay National Park today a whale came completely out of the water. You could see sky all around its huge mass. It made an impressive splash and went on to breach a couple more times.
We arrived to an unexpectedly crowded dock in Bartlett Cove and were lucky to find some dock space on the outside. The campground 1/2 mile away is beautiful and unoccupied. We appear to be the only nighttime residents here on the Park dock which now offers a 10 night stay during this shoulder season. This is a very impressive and well engineered public dock, Most of the boats here appear to be Gustavus folks and commercial fishermen. Many fishermen in towns along the southeast are awaiting shrimp opening October 1 st.
It was a cozy night on Explorer with 4 humans and a dog, Jim and Terry in the aft berth, Robbie and I forward, and Ella in between.
Tuesday September 22
The motorized restrictions for the East arm of Glacier Bay came off on 9/16 so we headed up through shades of blue into the floury water at the end of Muir Glacier. We passed interestingly shaped icebergs probably coming off McBride glacier, which unlike Muir, may still reach the sea. It is extraordinary to see how far these glaciers have retreated in recent time. Miles of fiords 600+ feet deep have opened up just in my short lifetime. We ran up the end of Wachusett Inlet, surprised at how many deciduous trees marked the banks around alluvial fans left by the braided creeks from retreating ice. We travelled 120 miles today before returning to Bartlett Cove and finding a nice slip on the inside of the dock. A couple well equipped French sailboats came in today. As fantastic a journey as we have had, it seems quite modest compared to what those boats have seen.
Glacier Bay is a big place and the west arm will have to wait until next year. This year the fuel dock and lodge at Bartlett Cove have been closed due to the Covid pandemic. A Park Ranger told us the usually busy campground had only a few tents this year.
