3rd Report from Alaska
We are now in Juneau, the capital of Alaska and close to famous Glacier Bay. On August 16th Mrs G arrived with four grand children and two of their friends. The weather was pretty good so we did a road trip up to Mendenhall Glacier in the evening, which is a must if visiting Juneau. The Glacier feeds into a lake and a huge waterfall, also there are board walks over the top of a red salmon stream so you can see the salmon spawning and more often than not a couple of bears. We weren’t so lucky with the bears, but a good outing nevertheless.
Meanwhile we managed to get a permit to enter Glacier Bay and spent the next three days in the National Park catching salmon, putting down crab and shrimp pots and bear spotting. In between these activities we visited some spectacular glaciers and saw lots of seals and otters. There is a whale carcass washed up on the beach and we were treated to a couple of bears feeding on it. We were all safely in the dinghy so were able to get very close for good viewing.
Whale carcass
While we were there a pack of wolves also came out of the nearby bushes (a rare sighting) but they were very shy. While waiting in front of the carcass we dropped the crab pots over and also a halibut line and caught two halibut, one of 38lbs and the other one was just 1lb – the smallest halibut any of us has ever seen so we returned him to the deep for next time.
While in the Park we saw lots of whales and sat with some orcas for an hour or more so more good photos…..
Killer Whales
The weather was not fantastic but also not too bad. We left the national park and paused to watch a pod of humpback whales bubble feeding in Icy Straits.
We anchored overnight at Killisnoo Island where the sun was shining so the girls decided to take a swim! Crazy if you ask me! We had a fantastic sunset over snow-capped mountains on Baronof Island, which was our next destination at Warm Springs Bay. Here there are hot springs feeding into an huge icy waterfall so we all took a relaxing bathe in spectacular surroundings.
Baranof hot springs
Hot springs
We stopped off in the next inlet to catch some pink salmon and saw another bear, which ran off. The youngsters all had a great time reeling in the salmon although we only kept two due to freezer space. This was just as well as we caught a 93 lb Halibut in our next anchorage at Trap Bay. We also hooked an octopus, which we estimated at 50 lbs but managed, with some difficulty to persuade him to go back into the sea. We already had a smaller one in the fridge, which had come up in one of the crab pots.
Octopus
Time was running out and we started to head back. On the last day we saw more whales bubble feeding and also managed a quick visit to Funtner Bay for a guided hike into the forest.
Back in Juneau we are now awaiting the next party who arrive this afternoon. Everyone is well on board and we are having fun in Alaska, as you can no doubt tell!
