July 25 - Russel Island Bay to East side of Glacier Bay

 

July 25 – Russell Island Bay to East side of Glacier Bay

Of course it was raining when we got up this morning, and the sky was covered with low clouds. 

Today’s plan is to head back down the channel and make the turn up the East side of Glacier Bay.  Shawn wants to do a bit of kayaking in the ice.  Kat is not so sure, and Glen is of course game for anything adventurous.  I’ll probably take the dinghy to photograph the adventures. 

 

Along the way I spotted Mt Goats high up on a hillside.  We took photos but they were pretty high up so even blowing up the photos they aren’t that great.  Need a longer lens. <grin>  

 

Mt Goats

 

 

 

 

Seabirds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Icebergs   

They come in all shapes and sizes, and from dark blue to white to crystal clear.  It’s the clear ones that sneak up on unwatchful boaters.  Logs are much easier to see.

It was fun to look at the bergs and bergettes and see the many shapes – dinosaurs, whale tales, if you could imagine it, it was likely there.

 

 

 

The bergs were bigger than in 2013 but much smaller than in 2008.  Must be that climate change stuff.  It was a warmer winter with less snow this past winter and this has been a warmer summer than normal in Alaska.  

 

 

Sea Otter Farm

We came across a line of Sea Otters crossing the channel.  It looked like a parade.  Quite a few of them were carrying their babies.  These critters are so cute, BUT they each eat about 30 lbs. of crab, sea cucumber, urchins, etc… a day and they area so abundant that there is real concern as to what these waters will be like in a very few years.   Fun Fact: A sea otter pelt contains about one million hairs per inch.  The fur is very soft and warm.   No wonder the Russians hunted them almost to extinction back in the day. 

 

 

 

 

No bears, no Moose, but a couple whale.

About a mile before entering N. Sandy Cove we saw a Humpback whale feeding and playing along the shoreline.  It was slapping its ‘wings’ flippers, and breaching.   Magic did not stop to watch (Shawn and Kat watched thru binoculars), but Sea Life did and reported a good show.  Just ask Diane about the great video she ‘did not get’ as Willard stepped in front of her.  Nice going Willard! 

   

During the evening we did hear on the radio that there was a Black Bear with a cub on the shore in N. Sandy Cove apparently not far from where we were but we did not see them.  I’ll have to watch early in the morning --- at bear breakfast time.

 

 

 

 

Today’s Glacier recap ----

McBride

200-250 feet high above waterline, est 300 feet below waterline, .5 mile wide, 12 miles long, flow rate 15-20 feet per day. 

Our plan was to anchor boats outside the inlet and go in via dinghy and kayak, like we did in 2008 and 2013.  But, TOO MUCH ICE!  The opening to the inlet was chalk full of icebergs, big icebergs.  So took photos from outside but did not actually see the glacier as it is up and around the corner.   We watched one iceberg roll completely over (180 degrees).

 

McBride entrance 2016

 

McBride in 2013

 

In 2013 – the Ice at the entrance did not stop us.

 

McBride in 2013

 

McBride 2008

 

 

McBride - 2008

 

So the answer is that McBride likes to drop ice and block the entrance.  Too bad we couldn’t get in this trip, it is a very pretty glacier.

 

On the way back down the channel we stopped again to take another look.  Now at almost high tide.  Wow, what a difference a little water and current will bring.  The large icebergs across the entrance and on the beach have all now been refloated and moved back up the inlet about a half mile causing an ice jam.  No chance of getting thru in Kayaks this trip.  Some of these chunks were car sized.  There is a large amount of ice to thread our way through in the main channel.   

 

 

Riggs

20-90 feet above waterline, 0 feet below waterline, .75 miles wide, 14.5 miles long, flow rate 1-2 feet per day

 

Riggs 2016

 

 

The fog rolled in.  Or was that Willard’s ’fog machine’ that goes along with the Karaoke machine.  He might have had the Fireweed Lounge open for a luncheon special today. 

 

 

Muir

30 feet high above waterline, .5 mile wide, 12.5 miles long, flow rate of .5 feet per day

 

Muir 2016

Lots of ice cube sized bergettes in the water.  The Muir glacier comes to the tidelands from two directions, but neither side appears to reach the water now.  The bergettes come out of a glacial river. 

It was sprinkling rain, but only out in front of the glacier, and there was a very cold wind coming down and across the glacier out at us. Let’s just say it was cold outside.  

 

There are tons of waterfalls along the hillsides of the channel were flowing quite heavily.  It is interesting there are very deep ravines without waterfalls in them; but evidence that there were huge amounts of water running down these hills at some point in history.  

 

We wove our way thru ice as we went back down the channel headed toward North Sandy Cove for our anchorage.  The rain did stop today but the sky stayed gray and cloudy all day long.  We found that we were being followed by this ‘ghost boat’ much of the day.  If you look close you might see it in the photo below.

 

Willard passing a cruise ship.  The better shot that I missed was when he looked to be playing chicken with the ships bow.

 

Interesting rock formation