Glacial valley in Tarr Inlet, Glacier Bay 

GLACIER BAY WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE from dozens of forest fires in the Yukon Territory and interior Alaska, and the sun was a weird shade of orange for much of the time we were in the national park.

And It really didn’t matter. We were too busy watching beautiful things—whales, sea otters, bears and glaciers—to think about the dramatic environmental changes washing over our planet. We’ll get back to worrying about that when we get home.

Kinnon and I are back in Juneau now after traveling over 300 miles in eight days—to St. James Bay, Couverden Bay, Hoonah, Glacier Bay, Dundas Bay and Elfin Cove. Kinnon flies out tomorrow, I’ll pick up my fourth passenger, Dave Ortland, at the Juneau airport at 9 a.m. And then we’ll be off for the glaciers of Tracy Arm.

I’ll post more words and photos when I get to Ketchikan, in about two weeks. But in the meantime, here’s a taste of what we’ve seen:

 

Glaciers

 

Glaciers

 

… and more glaciers

 

Gulls on ice flows

 

Ice flow gulls (Kinnon Williams)

 

Kinnon came close to cutting off the end of his finger

 

But it didn’t stop him from grabbing a small hunk of Glacier for our ice chest

 

Smoky sunset over Sandy Cove, Glacier Bay

 

Sea lion (Kinnon Williams)

 

Humpback whales (Kinnon Williams)

 

Humpback whale (Kinnon Williams)

 

Sea otter, feasting (Kinnon Williams)

 

Black bear, Shag Cove

 

Shag Cove bear

 

Northernmost point of our trip, in Tarr Inlet, just south of Canadian border

 

Carvings in Huna Tribal House, Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay

 

Huna Tribal House detail, Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay

 

Huna Tribal House detail, Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay

 

Huna Tribal House detail, Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay

 

Village on a boardwalk: Elfin Cove

 

Elfin Cove general store

 

Elfin Cove intersection

 

Osprey at Elfin Cove

 

Kinnon at Hoonah

 

Hoonah, from the water

 

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