I've always wanted to share what I do up here in Southeast Alaska with my family, and I've had a few trips with my brother before, but it is the young kids who I feel can get the most out of a trip up here. So when my sister Rachel suggested coming up and bringing her kids, I figured it would be a great trip. Layla was pretty crowded, with four people aboard, but we made do, and we had a great time together. First up was Taku Harbor, where many other people go, so it wasn't that much of an adventure, but then we went for a hike in Limestone Inlet, where we found three bears across the meadow. Two were cubs and they were fighting or playing (I got a lot of that during this trip, not just with bears).
We got to try out our new rubber boots:
Then we drove on down to Wood Spit and into Endicott Arm. It was rainy then so I didn't take many pictures. It rained on us most of the time, in fact, and now that they have left, it is supposed to be sunny for a whole week straight. Still, Alaska is wonderful in the rain. At the entrance to Ford's Terror, the waterfall was thundering down, so we got a nice close view.
And then we went up the river in the east side of Ford's Terror and panned for gold!
More Panning for gold!
After we left Ford's Terror we came back to the entrance to Endicott Arm, and got a tiny bit of sunshine, and paddled around the stranded icebergs that are in the shallow water there.
Then we went into Tracy Arm and anchored in a nice little cove at the entrance and found some Oystercatcher Eggs. They lay their eggs below the high tide line, so a really high tide will cover the eggs. Very strange.
Then we went into Tracy Arm. This was a long day, and we had nice weather for this. We saw some seals on the icebergs!
And we made it to the South Sawyer Glacier. It was very icy there and I was pretty busy trying to keep the boat from bumping big ice pieces too hard, especially since the wind was blowing really strongly and there was currents from all directions all the time. Difficult to navigate in. Still, we saw a few big pieces fall off and heard the white thunder.
More Baby seals!
Then we went to North Sawyer. Its actually just called Sawyer glacier, but everyone feels the need to be sure you aren't mistaking the two (south) and so they call it north. But I digress. Usually it is not very active. When I first came up it was much further out and pretty active, but then it became less and less active until last year it was basically just a wall of ice that didn't do anything. But now it is different. It seems to have retreated past a moraine shoal, and is calving again. It means it is retreating extra fast now. I anchored near the moraine, because it offered some protection from the ice and we canoed in for a closer look.
Since we are on the beach, the only thing we need to worry about is the wave from big calvings, and being hit by thrown ice. These are dangers, but not as scary as a shooter, which is a big berg that floats up from underneath with no warning at all and comes popping out of the water like a submarine in an emergency maneuver. But none of those here! Solid gravel beneath our feet. So we played around and took some photos and saw a few nice calvings.
Henry the Ice Man
Nora with Katabatic winds in her hair
Then we went back to Tracy Cove and found some bears in the meadow there.
They let us get really close (from the canoe) and we had a nice time looking at them.
In the morning we found the bears again and got even closer
This one was pretty cool with us being there. He was always watching us even if it doesn't seem to be that way.
A few times he posed on a rock. He was pretty skinny.
And we were able to get about 25 ft away from him.
Because of the other bears in the area, he was lowest in rank, and couldn't get the best spots for food. I think he was a bit sad.
We went back to the Oystercatcher nest and found the owners.
And the eggs again
And then went out to the Midway Islands and found more oystercatchers. I also saw a puffin there. A tufted puffin. I didn't get a good picture though.
The flowers were doing nicely on the island because nobody eats them there.
A pair of Pigeon Guillemots
Then we went to Port Snettisham and hiked up the river there and found some nice muskeg, and some nesting Yellowlegs!
On our way back to Juneau we got a few nice looks at some Humpback Whales lunge feeding
And one popped up right next to us, a nice treat.
It was a nice trip. I can't wait to do more trips with family and friends, but its nice to have a few days to rest in Juneau, and some sunshine.
Then we drove on down to Wood Spit and into Endicott Arm. It was rainy then so I didn't take many pictures. It rained on us most of the time, in fact, and now that they have left, it is supposed to be sunny for a whole week straight. Still, Alaska is wonderful in the rain. At the entrance to Ford's Terror, the waterfall was thundering down, so we got a nice close view.
And then we went up the river in the east side of Ford's Terror and panned for gold!
More Panning for gold!
After we left Ford's Terror we came back to the entrance to Endicott Arm, and got a tiny bit of sunshine, and paddled around the stranded icebergs that are in the shallow water there.
Then we went into Tracy Arm and anchored in a nice little cove at the entrance and found some Oystercatcher Eggs. They lay their eggs below the high tide line, so a really high tide will cover the eggs. Very strange.
Then we went into Tracy Arm. This was a long day, and we had nice weather for this. We saw some seals on the icebergs!
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