Amazing Alaskan Sights--Part II

We loved the wonderful sunshine that greeted us this morning as we left Hobart Bay at 6 am. We were soon passed by the Sea Princess, a cruise ship that I think my mom was on once. Then our cruise partner, John, radioed us that there were icebergs ahead! Some looked as big as that cruise ship that had just gone by and others were blue in color. We knew there were icebergs up Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm that emptied into Stephens Passage where we were, but we never dreamed that we would encounter them. We tentatively motored over to one of the smaller ones with John close behind us. Just as we were pulling away, the ‘berg fell apart, sending out waves and scaring us just a little. We spent some time going from one to another, this time staying our distance. John and Roxie gathered some ice bits called “bergies” for our happy hour drinks that evening.

Photo by Caples

We found a wonderful place to stay that evening called Taku Harbor. It had a huge, practically new dock connected to shore and like everywhere else this summer, we were alone. There was a trail along the shore. One way lead to the ruins of an old cannery where the guys loved looking at the old equipment. The other way went to a Forest Service cabin that was open for inspection.

Dinner on Merlin tonight—crab cakes and prawns. Later that evening the small cruise ship, Safari Explorer, came in and anchored. The passengers waved at us as we were out setting our crab pots.

Our destination the next day was the big city of Juneau. We motored up the beautiful Gastineau Canal with soaring green hills on either side of us. Downtown was fun with lots of gift shops and the bustle of people off the cruise ships. We looked up a family member of an acquaintance who owns a historical tavern and she gave us the lowdown on living and working in Juneau as we sipped on Alaskan Amber beer. We spent an extra day in Juneau to do shopping and laundry.

We are on to Auke Bay as a gateway to Glacier National Park where we have a permit to enter on June 13^th. I probably won’t be doing any blogging for a time due to lack of a phone/internet connection.

Signing off,

Susan, Rod, and Katie

Dinghy Transport