I woke up at 5:45 and pulled the anchor at 5:50. Heavy rain and low clouds dominated as I left
Blue Mouse Cove.
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| Beautiful, even in the mist |
Today’s first stop was Reid Inlet to check out Reid
Glacier. Reid Glacier is almost a
tidewater glacier (meaning it reaches the water), but not quite. At first this seems like a negative, but it
actually makes it more interesting since you can get much closer. I anchored the boat near the head of the
inlet, very near the glacier, and set out in the kayak for some exploration.
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| On the way to Reid Glacier |
I headed to shore first and spent about 45 minutes walked to
the glacier. Several small streams and
several much larger streams drained from beneath the glacier, making the
approach somewhat difficult. But the
landscape was spectacular. It’s like
hiking on Mt. Rainier, but you’re at sea level.
Every sense indicates that you should be on an alpine lake, but you’re not. I suppose
latitude and altitude have similar effects.
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| Footprints in glacial silt. This colors the runoff, and in turn the water in the bay. Visibility is only about 6 inches in the water. |
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| Walking towards the glacier |
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| Can't get across this stream |
After wandering around for awhile I headed back to the kayak
and paddled the three miles around the cove.
The shoreline was beautiful, despite the gray, rainy weather. A big group of kayakers were camped out near
the entrance to the cove, and they seemed to be having a good time despite the
tough camping weather. I was hoping to
see some bears during my kayak ride, but no luck.
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| Beautifully calm |
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| And another... |
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| Nice temporary anchorage |
After getting back to the boat I headed out for the 4 or 5
mile jaunt to Lamplugh Glacier. It was surprisingly
difficult to navigate through the ice a few miles away from the glacier’s face,
but things cleared up when I got closer and I could have easily gotten to the
glacier face. I got a little less than a
quarter mile away, shut the engine down, and watched and listened as huge
chunks calved into the water. A tour
boat and Qismat, the sailboat I had first seen in Port Hardy (with transmission
problems) and seen again last night was much further away, as was one of the
day tour boats. They left soon after I
arrived, and I had the whole place to myself.
Totally spectacular.
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| Lamplugh Glacier |
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| Some perspective |
Given that it was already nearing evening, I decided to head
the few miles back to Reid Inlet for the night.
It’s a spectacular anchorage.
Qismat was anchored there when I arrived and I headed up to the head on
the opposite side as I had earlier to check it out. I anchored and kayaked in, walked around for
20 minutes or so, and then pulled the anchor and headed back to the overnight
anchoring spot. Before installed the
windlass I probably wouldn’t have made these explorations because anchoring
multiple times a day in 50+ feet of water gets tiresome, but the windlass makes
anchoring totally painless. And the
swivel I picked up in Juneau has the windlass performing perfectly again.
Qismat’s owners were heading to the head of the inlet in
their dinghy and we talked for a bit and I gave them some suggestions for where
to go on shore. I got the anchor set for
the night and spent a few hours reading, during which Pat and Tom from Qismat
came over to see if I wanted to join them for dinner. I gladly accepted and enjoyed some delicious
baked goods…something I’m not used to since I don’t have an oven onboard. Pat and Tom are retired petroleum engineers
now living in Nanaimo, BC and have sailed in BC for many years, but this is
their first trip to Alaska. Nice people.
As I was paddling back to my boat after dinner I detoured
into shore to talk with a group of four kayakers who had arrived and set up
camp not far from where I anchored. They
had beautiful, home built wooden kayaks and had paddled all over the PNW in
them…the west coast of Vancouver Island, Desolation Sound and the Broughton’s,
and many more places closer to home. It
turned out that they are from Kirkand, just across the lake from where I grew
up. They had taken the ferry up from
Bellingham to Gustavus with their kayaks, and were spending a week paddling
around Glacier Bay. They seemed to be
having a great, albeit wet, week of paddling.
It was getting close to 11 PM, and although still plenty
light out, it was time for bed. Heading
up Tarr Inlet tomorrow to hopefully see Margerie Glacier.
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| View from the anchorage at 11 PM |
26.9 nm today and 1299 total
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