Salmon River Cabins Gustavus

<br><br><br>The bugs were so awful this morning that Kimber decided against a hike. Instead, we headed out of the bay to whale watch. It didn't take long before I heard someone say something about breaching. Again, I've seen whales before but not breaching whales. We weren't able to get real close to the breaching animals, but we could see them in the distance. The amount of water that is displaced when a whale ...

<br><br>We awoke to a calm morning in North Sandy Cove. Immediately following breakfast, we launched the canoes. We paddled along the rim of an island, and as the tide was way down, we viewed vertical tide pools. Along the steep rock outcroppings differing levels could be distinguished: barnacles and muscles at the top, with star fish, urchins, and sea cucumbers near the water level. In the shallow water, we saw a good sized jelly fish, some snails, and thousands of infant salmon, called ...

... actually Deb did the awakening), we boarded the skiff and motored over to shore, with the intent of looking for bears. We found bear scat (poo) but no bears. Kimber pointed out belly holes, where bears have dug holes to lay prone on the ground. Because they put on so much weight in the summer, they like to lay on their tummies in the holes, so they are more comfortable sleeping on their stomachs. No I know what Degan's been doing in my back yard!

<br> The day started simply with breakfast at the lodge. Once we were packed, we were transported to the dock at Glacier Bay National Park. We boarded the MV Sea Wolf, along with eight other guests: Chris and Betty from New Jersey;; Peter and Heidi from Washington; Ann and Ron from Michigan; and two locals from Gustavus, Ida (maybe 14 or 15) and Phil, the local fix-it guy. We were welcomed by the crew: Keith, the engineer; Tom the captain; Skylar, the 19 year old deckhand ...

... had no new mileage on it. Apparently the man who rented the car had actually gotten into a private vehicle instead of the rented vehicle. Because the owners (who were one vacation somewhere and oblivious these events) had left their keys in the car, the renter assumed he was in the right vehicle. I&#8217;m not sure how or if the rental car actually told the car owners what happened. Just one more reason to keep your car messy.<br><br><br>

Glacier Bay is a large national park that is one large bay that was carved by a single glacier that has retreated over the past 200 years to reveal this bay. Since it was a national park, in the morning a smaller vessel pulled up alongside ours, and three park Rangers came aboard and stayed with us until late in the evening. While they were aboard they ensured that no wildlife was disturbed, and answered ...

... and USGS elevation data No roads lead to the park and it is most easily reached by air travel. During some summers there are ferries to the small community of Gustavus or directly to the marina at Bartlett Cove. Despite the lack of roads, there are over 300,000 visitors per year, most on cruise ships.[citation needed] Glaciers descending from high snow capped mountains into the bay ...

We were spoiled for choice at the firewood gallery. The selection of art was great as remembered. I can away with a beautiful whale watercolor in the center of embossed native designs and a fun picture of the bow of a sea kayak. Well worth the visit. No carvings stood out to join the polar bear from ten years ago but maybe next time. Now to find a framed at home. Sent from my iPhone

... White Thunder". We saw ice falling off the face (calving). Truly amazing stuff - the power of nature - it dwarfed the boat - 200 foot high face of ice - compressed by years of snow falls - now blue. Throughout the last 200 years, many glaciers in Glacier Bay have undergone massive retreat (although Johns Hopkins Glacier is advancing). Over 65 miles of new terrain have been uncovered - it was very barren ...

... and back at the airport at 16.30hrs. And then maham: About 200 people were waiting there to embark. 1.30hrs later and after all the security checks, we finally took of for a 11 min. flight. We finally arrived at the camper at 19.00hrs and after having a $27US parking fee we were back at the camping, exhausted but at the same time excited. I wish you were all there with us to share that moment. Now it is 1200PM and we must visit the museums this afternoon. Ciao