Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

We left Elfin Cove about 9 a.m. in heavy fog. We eased our way across a foggy Icy Strait using our GPS, radar and AIS. We arrived at the entrance of Glacier Bay and made our call to Bartlett Cove to let them know we were coming in. The Park limits the number of private boats in the Bay to no more than 25 per day. Permits can be reserved up to 60 days ahead, but since we did not know when we would arrive, that was not an option for us. When we arrived in Hoonah, we called and were told we could have a permit for August 10, but that was all they could give us at the time. The park service also sets aside a few permits each day that can be reserved two days in advance, so while we were in Elfin Cove I called and was able to reserve another permit for the 9th. Before leaving Elfin Cove I called and reserved one more permit for the 11th and was able to extend that once we entered the bay. So in all we had four days to spend in Glacier Bay.

As we passed into Glacier Bay waters the park ranger at Bartlett Cove radioed us and informed us that we were entering whale waters and there was a 13 knot speed limit. They also informed us that we should remain at least one mile off shore where possible and maintain a mid-channel course where it is narrower. All boats are required to attend an orientation before going further into the Bay. The next one was almost three hours later so we tied up to the dock (a three hour limit) and walked up to the Lodge for lunch.

When we were seated, we found that one of the menus was missing a page, so I quickly chose my item and handed the menu to Don. When the waitress came and took our orders I again just glanced at the menu and placed my order for the Trail Loop Burger. Don ordered his burger with sautéed mushrooms so I said, “I’ll have them on mine, too. “ The waitress looked at me a little strange and left. When our meals came, I started eating my “burger” and noticed that it was really juicy. It was tasty, too, but very juicy. As Don started eating his, I noticed that his was not nearly as juicy and it was also a lot thicker. Then I got to looking at my “burger” and realized that I had ordered a Portobello Mushroom “Burger” with sautéed mushrooms on it. Tells you how observant I am when I’m half way through a sandwich before I notice there isn’t any beef on it! After lunch we looked around the National Park museum and the lodge gift shop, where we bought some thermal underwear pants, among other things, because I had forgotten to pack any for either of us and there was a definite chill in the air.

While we were at the lodge we noticed that they offered an eight-hour cruise every day into the west arm of the Bay. It included breakfast and lunch and a National Park interpreter. Since it is more than 50 miles into the west arm and more than 40 miles into the east arm we knew that we would not have enough fuel capacity to cruise into both without coming back for more fuel. We also thought we would learn more about Glacier Bay from the interpreter, so we decided that we would take the cruise the next day. In the mean time we attended orientation and learned all the rules.

When we were done with the orientation all the parks personnel were abuzz about rescuing some people from a capsized boat. Everyone was fine and we never did find out where it happened, but from the dock we could see a boat floating upside down at the bottom of the ramp. When it was finally upright we saw that it was identical to the boat we had before this one, a 21-foot Trophy. It apparently began taking on water and became unstable and flipped over. Thankfully it was close enough help to arrive quickly because the water temperature is only 47 degrees. We anchored in Bartlett Cove for the night and after dinner we took the dinghy to the dock and went to the lodge for desert at the restaurant and to used their WiFi to upload our last blog.