Scroater!!!

We have come to Glacier Bay based on Lauren’s good dating fortune (thanks, OKCupid).  Greg*(names have been changed to protect privacy) loves Alaska and has a great friend Brett*( because he looks like Cindy’s cousin Brett) who is the General Manager of this cool lodge.  (Btw, happy 100 birthday to our National Parks!) Greg used to work with Brett years ago in Denali and while Lauren has only been on a handful of dates with Greg, he provided essential advice for AK travel.  Also, he contacted Brett to show us a good welcome.  Brett encouraged us to take a boat tour deep into Glacier Bay to see some of the most incredible areas of the National Park.  NPS Glacier Bay Boat Tour

On our boat of approximately 60 people, we are led into the remote waters by Miscka (spelling unconfirmed but actual name, feel free to contact Cindy), a super hot captain and Ranger Dan.

Lauren did the boat a favor and spotted 3 Humpback whales mere minutes into the voyage (this was shortly after a false seal not whale alarm).  Our first stop was South Marble Island, a home to sea lions, tufted puffin and pigeon guillemot (resembling black bowling pins according to Ranger Dan).  Also found here are the scoter (long o).  Cindy, new to the birding world, saw this animal and yelled out excitedly “Scroater!!”.  Mmhmm.  This brought immediate laughs from the upper deck with a response of “hey, is this still a “g” rated boat?” 

Non-bird Wildlife spotted (all numbers are approximate):

Humpback whales (10), closest proximity to boat 100 ft

Sea lions (500+) densest fur of any animal 100x more than a house cat (on South Marble Island (covered by glacier in 1845))

Harbor Porpoise (15)

Sea Otter (25)

Mountain Goat (Nanny 1, kid 2) located on Gloomy Knob, elev 1331ft.

Coastal Brown Bear (1 mama, 2 cubs) similar to a Grizzly but bigger as eats better.

Wolf (2, 1 mangy)

Kayakers picked up (2) from Scidmore Bay covered by glacier in 1892

Kayakers not picked up (15 boats)

Cruise ships (6)

A shout out to Junior Ranger Angelo who earned his badge following his wise words spoken during his acceptance speech. “Remember to throw away your trash in the right can and turn off lights so you don’t waste energy and melt the glaciers.”  We’re pretty certain his inspiration was from watching the long goateed deck hand, Scott, sort through the trash literally half of the 8 hour voyage.  Good looking out kid!

Glaciers visited (in order):

Lamplugh (advancing)

Margerie (stable)

Grand Pacific (retreating, also was the original glacier that created the bay over the last 250 years)

Johns Hopkins (retreating) named after the university, most photographed in the world

Gillman, Hoonah and Topeka

Reid (goateed deck hands favorite)

When we visited our pal Margerie (glacier), Cindy experienced a different type of Calving.  This varietal sounds like thunder and gun shots as small (SUV sized) chunks of ice break loose from the mama iceberg and crash into the bay.  

Flight and Forage

As we check in at Wings of Alaska, we are told we are the only passengers.  It’s a 4/5 seat Cessna.  It’s 73 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  We cannot remove the smiles from our faces.  The flight is about 30 minutes over islands and fishing boats.  Amazingly beautiful.

When we land we hop on the shuttle (old school bus) to the Glacier Bay Lodge (http://www.visitglacierbay.com)  where employee Josh educates Cindy about the lost art of foraging.  This is his favorite activity.  “What do you forage?” asks Cindy.  “Mostly berries”, replies Josh. Cindy inquires what he uses these berries for, “jam, baking?” Josh simply replies “I eat them all.”

Possibly minutes after check in Cindy is inspired to start her new hobby of foraging and strays off the path (to our room) for Salmon berries, a pale raspberry-like fruit.  “Hmm, it’s a bit sour.”

Willie Nelson connection

The first stop was Juneau.  After a great hike through the Mendenhall glacier area we decided we needed to fit in a quick tour of the Alaskan Brewery before boarding our small plane to Gustavus.

To our great fortune we were picked up by Steve, a 400 lb ex band manager/roadie from Boston who drove a band to Juneau in 1972 and never left. This awesome gentlemen ran the sound board for the third year of FarmAid (1987) which also happened to be Cindy’s first concert. She met Willie Nelson, it was the beginning of everything. Okay, back to Juneau.  On the road to the brewery Steve offered to wait while we drank inside and then continue the drive to the airport so we wouldn’t miss our flight.  For $10. Ten bucks also happened to be the price for each of us to experience 6 tastings (plus a coozie).  Destiny, yep!

Beers Tasted:

Summer Ale 3.5 stars

Freeride 5 stars

Smash galaxy 3.5 stars

Smash galaxy 430 3 stars

Azacca 5 stars

35 minutes and 5 tastings each later (20 ounces) we are smiling and on our way to our small plane to Glacier Bay National Park.

9 years later...

9 years have passed since our last Chattworld blog post, and there have been lots of life changes since that point but our sense of adventure as remained constant!  This series of posts are written from our current trip in the Last Great Frontier (aka Alaska). 

It was Lauren’s 36 birthday and Cindy’s 49 state.  Lots to celebrate!!

Itinerary:

22 June 2016: Fly to Juneau

23 June 2016: Fly to Gustavus (Glacier Bay National Park)

25 June 2016: Fly to Anchorage, Rent RV... Drive.

03 July 2016:  Fly home.