July 12 – Day 72 - Glacier Bay
It was still raining and raining hard in the morning.
We pulled out of the Anchorage under wet skies headed for Wachusett Inlet. At one point along the route we could see what we think was the Casement glacier in the distance.
First we went up the Tidal Inlet just to see what we could see. Basically rock, water, and trees, with a few waterfalls, and very high and steep hillsides. Critters seen: various birds – 2-3 kinds of seagulls, seal, sea otters (of course), and a couple humpback whales feeding along the shoreline. In all a pretty but fairly boring tour.
Humpback with Bidarka in background
The same whale with us in background taken by Bidarka
We are not as close to that whale as it looks. Long camera lenses help a lot
We anchored in a little nook 2 miles into Wachusetts Inlet and tied to shore, then jumped into the small boats, 4 in Nellie and 4 in ours (it needs a new name – it's not as 'stupid' as it was last year) and headed off for McBride Glacier expecting about a 2-hour round trip tour. We were gone about 2 ½ hours but it was worth it. It was expected to be a bit chilly so most of us put on our 'snow/rain play clothes', and Glen changed out of his shorts and added a fleece vest T shirt). As we got closer we saw bergy bits in the water, and then larger bergs. Still nothing like the size of bergs we saw in 2013 and 2016.
Glaciers that we saw today in order of sight/viewing.
We made the turn toward McBride (where we had left all the big boats in 2016) and headed up inlet. There was quite a bit of ice in the water most small but there were a couple larger bergs. Of course, that did not stop Glen from playing 'Everglades driver' whizzing his way through the ice. He did slowly try to push one large berg and nudged it a bit, but it just sat there looking at us. Some of the shapes of the bergs are interesting, so its always fun to see what you can 'see' (imagine) in the shapes. Today we saw: Whale tales, a Dragon, a humpback whale head coming out of the water with its mouth open, an oversized soccer ball, and lots of large Lego blocks.
This one is the dragon and the darker part on the right is the breaching Humpback
Humpback closer view
Perspective of size --- Iceberg vs Nellie
We were able to get to the face of the glacier, but didn't go any closer than 150 feet, mostly staying back further. It appears to have receded about 1 mile since our last visit. But we'll have to compare photos at some point. This glacier is beautiful and amazing in size and colors. From black through every shade of blue to white. It did a bit of caving for us but nothing really large. The biggest chunk being about the size of a small whale when it was floating in the water. Lots of photos were taken.
On the right is another glacier and valley with lots of water coming down the middle. The sides are very tall and dark from the ice being covered by rocks. Still very impressive. Jane and I went ashore near a river and rock basin. The rocks were of every size, shape and color. I was on the hunt for that special 'glacier rock' for yard art. I look for smaller treasures than Glen who goes for Pelton wheels and the like. I wanted to get special rock for Steve (he likes them for his yard) and found one but Glen would not help retrieve it. This of course made Michelle happy as she says he has too many rocks already.
Tug boat time
Glen playing tug boat with a large berg.
Seals resting on the ice bergs. These all look to be young seals.
Seals have their babies up in these waters near the glaciers and often leave their pups on bergs while they go fishing.
Nellie passing a berg. The black hillside behind is ice covered with rock.
This is the glacier to the right of McBride
The spires on the right and the wall on the left are rock/dirt covered ice. That is a big waterfall in the middle.
Beautiful rock
McBride in the background
Up close and personal
McBride from a distance
In 2008 we left Magic anchored at the entrance and went into by dinghy and kayak and there were lots of larger bergs. In 2013 or 2016 we left the big boats at the entrance again and went in by dinghy, but I don’t think we got up to the face of the glacier that year.
The inlet headed toward the Muir Glacier is closed to motor traffic. But when exiting McBride, we went across the channel and up a little bit (without crossing that imaginary boundary line) and were able to see the upper left side of the Riggs Glacier. It still looks great and from what we could see, it seems to be at about the same place it was in 2016. But since we could not see the terminus we can’t be sure. Again, comparing photos might shed light on that.
Interesting rock walls. The dark veins here stick out about 4-6 inches from the lighter colored rock
We were still back in time to prepare a quick dinner for our standard 7pm seating.
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