Glaciers, Hoonah, Juneau & AMHS

Hey, Thank you for stopping by. Connecting to social media in Alaska is proving to be more challenging than originally anticipated. I knew it would be patchy but we are struggling to keep phones connected when there is good coverage.

So what have we been up to since the last post?

We had 4 absolutely beautiful days in Glacier Bay. The sun shone, the wildlife came and visited us and it was blissfully quiet and calm most of the time. While the area is magnificently 65 miles by 3.5 miles, with luscious mountains and secludes bays, the Glaciers themselves made me sad. There are 5 Tidal glaciers and numerous hanging glaciers within the Bay. We went to the head of the bay to see Margerie Glacier and I was excited to see this, promotional pictures looked magnificent. In reality it has shrunk significantly in the last few years. About six years ago there was the tiniest tip of a rock in front of the glacier. Now the rock is completely uncovered and there is enough room behind it to sail a boat around it. The glacier itself is, unfortunately a mere shadow of its former self.

Johns Hopkins Glacier was equally disappointing, but this was because, although the sun was shining, the lighting was not good. Also there was so much ice around that we couldn’t navigate very close to the glacier at all. This also had retreated a lot. What used to be a wide glacier has split into 2 smaller floes.

We spent 2 nights in Reid Inlet with a lovely view of Reid Glacier. This inlet is quite isolated, so naturally this is where Harmony, again, decided to give us engine trouble. This time nothing happened on turning the key. We poked, we fiddled but nothing seemed to work and on try 20 something she just fired up and ran like a dream. As the day was very wet and overcast, with more of the same over the next few days, we decided that it would be prudent to head back to civilisation. On the way we were joined by bear, who decided he’d just show himself and then go back into hiding. The weather became so foggy in the narrow Whale waters at the entrance to Glacier Bay that we couldn’t see a massive cruise ship that was travelling at 20 knots. We only knew it was there because the radar told us. We spent the night in Bartlett Cove. Then headed for Hoonah the next morning.

On the way to Hoonah we saw a humpback whale breach at a distance. Then as we rounded Point Adolphous on the run into Hoonah harbour, we lingered a while to watch a single Orca feeding. It was staying on the surface, laying on its side and generally was having fun. It was a joy to watch, especially as it came so close to the boat.

There were cruise ships in Hoonah so that meant the Cannery was open, so once we docked, out came the bikes and we went for a late lunch. I got to chat with an artisan drum maker and decorator, who also did red cedar bark basket weaving.

We had a lovely evening. Went to sleep early and left Hoonah at 5.45 the following morning for Juneau.

On this leg of the trip I was Captain for half of the journey. Only distant whales seen, calm seas and favourable winds got us to Juneau ahead of time and for the first time, the docks were full. Fortunately someone who was tied up to the Breakwater left so we nipped into that slot and moved the boat the next morning.

A day of errands followed until we were all ship shape and ready to leave the boat and head out in the car to Alaska’s interior.

Fast forward a couple of days and it was another early start. 3:30am saw us headed to the ferry terminal to board the Columbia from Juneau to Haines. All started well. we arrived in good time, well it is only 10 mins away from where Harmony is docked. Arrived in Haines as expected and then got back on the road heading for the Canadian border.