Gustavus Inn at Glacier Bay

... in person. It was unbelievable to watch several tons of animal lunge its body clear out of the water. I was able to get a few photos, but nothing as astonishing as being there in person. We also watched some of the whales smack their pectoral fins against the water. Kimber indicated they may have been stun feeding or just playing. After a while, they slept on the water in little groups, then it was back to activities. Breaching, smacking, and diving. WOW ...

... the water is stunning. The breaching was fantastic to watch, but my attention was often diverted to closer animals. Several humpbacks were near the boat, some approaching as close as 50 yards. During lunch (fresh grab cabs with a ginger sauce), a whale paced the boat right alongside the dining area. No one complained about the view. We stopped several times to take in the whale activities, crossing the Icy ...

... but weren't shy about being seen. We counted four of them and stayed with them for a while. When they appeared to be leaving the bay, we headed back to the boat. The crew hauled the kayaks out of the water, and we crossed Glacier Bay to view a Stellar sea lion haul out. This is where they hang out, sun, and play. Breeding grounds are in a different location. There were at least a hundred sea lions groaning in the distance, as we approached. They were on the rock face and swimming in the ...

... navigate through the ice chunks. It was fun, though.

We pulled anchor and headed for John Hopkins glacier. It was only opened for boat traffic last week (7/1). It is a protected area because of the seal pups. We decided to go check it out. It was beautiful in the Inlet. The water was chocked with icebergs from the calving glacier. Seals lounged on the bergs, in some areas, but the boat stayed quite a distance from them. The glacier is ...

... Reid Glacier. It's the first on we've seen today, and it terminates just short of the water line. Once we anchored, t skiff was brought around and we boarded for a quick transport to land. We hiked right to the front of the glacier. If you've never seen one, there is a lot of water flowing in and under the ice, so streams/rivers flow from within the glacier; therefore, I had to slog through a couple feet of water to get to the actual glacier., but I was determine. The ...

... to take home.

The bike ride back to the lodge was a little breezy, but it made for good exercise.

A little bit about Gustavus. First, it's small. Reading material puts the population at 400-500 residents. You can’t really drive in or out of it, so there is no vehicle theft. Just as we weren’t given keys to our room in the lodge, no one locks their cars or bothers to take the keys out of the ignition. They don ...

... mountains, wildlife and new friends.

After photos of our catch, off we went back to the pier, to catch the last tender back to the ship - first off, last back - what rebels we are!

A quick nap and then LJ went to the thermal suite and I was lazy in the room, then dinner. Afterwards we went to the casino, doubled our money and left - a perfect ending to the day!

... eroded mountains. International research is focussing on plant and animal succession and adaptability and we could see some mountains being populated by at first moss and lichen and then mountains that had been out of the glacier longer had alder and then finally the bigger fir and pine trees. We saw seals hauled out on the ice, resting which is also where they have their young. The small icebergs that were ...

... around some of the refrigerator magnet shops for a while, bought a couple of souveniers and then took the tender back to the ship. We did watch the people on the zip line. It looks like a real rush but at $85.00 for 30 seconds Iīd rather do it vicariously. Before we went to Hoonah Cal and I both had appointments for massages. Mine a facial and massage. Him just a massage. I donīt know why I do this. I really donīt like massages. They hurt. I am sore ...