Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is the National Park Service’s largest marine park and part of the world’s largest world heritage site.

Since time immemorial, the Tlingit people lived in the area that is now Glacier Bay and sustained themselves on the abundant resources found throughout the Bay.  They were driven out of the Bay during the Little Ice Age when glacial advances overran the villages inside the bay in the 1700s.  In 1794, George Vancouver described Glacier Bay as a compact sheet of ice as far as the eye could see.  However, when John Muir came to Glacier Bay, he found that the glacial ice had retreated 40 miles into the bay.

All boats entering Glacier Bay need to apply for a permit from June 1 to August 31, plus they only issue about 25 permits per day.  We applied for a 7-day permit and were approved, so we left Hoonah on August 22 and headed to Bartlett Cove, where Glacier Bay park’s headquarters are located.  We also had to attend a mandatory orientation to familiarize ourselves on the regulations and restrictions.

So armed with all this new information and enthusiasm, we headed out the next day (August 23) to spend the night in Shag Cove.  We saw lots of whales, one even breeched in front of us.  As we were approaching the spot we were going to anchor, we saw a bear walking the beach in front of us but it disappeared into the bush as we got closer.

entrance to Shag Cove

beach in Shag Cove

 On August 24, we left Shag Cove and headed for Johns Hopkins Inlet, where we viewed Lamplaugh Glacier, which is one of the bluest in the Bay and Johns Hopkins Glacier.  We anchored in Reid Inlet, right in front of Reid Glacier.  On the way to Johns Hopkins Inlet we were hailed by another sailboat, who told us that they had seen 4 bears on the beach in Tidal Inlet.  We deviated over and on our way we could see the mother and two cubs leave the beach.  We followed the remaining bear along the beach to the stream where it caught a fish.

close up of Lamplaugh Glacier

Johns Hopkins Glacier with the mountains in the back

Lamplaugh Glacier

we anchored in front of Reid Glacier

The next day (August 25), we left Reid Inlet and headed to Tarr Inlet to view Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers.  The weather the previous days had been cloudy but as we were headed out, the sun came out.  The ice was not too bad and we did not have to dodge many of them.  It helped that a cruise ship went ahead of us and cleared a path for us.  Margerie Glacier is awesome, towering pinnacles and flows directly out of the Fairweather Mountains.  We waited but did not catch any major calving.  The Grand Pacific Glacier was not so grand but it was the primary glacier that carved Glacier Bay.  We saw lots of seals in Tarr Inlet.  After that we headed over to Blue Mouse Cove and anchored for the night.

Grand Pacific Glacier, not so grand looking

Margerie Glacier

close up shows the pinnacles of Margerie Glacier

sharing Tarr Inlet with a cruise ship

another view of Margerie Glacier

We have heard that there was going to be some weather on Monday, August 26 so we headed for one of the better coves mentioned in the guidebook.  North Sandy Cove is one of the prettiest we have been to in Glacier Bay.  There were whales all over just at the entrance and a couple of seals greeted us as we approach our anchoring spot.

We are back in Bartlett Cove for the night and we will head out of Glacier Bay National Park tomorrow.

a baby grouse came to visit us at the Park headquarters!

All in all, Glacier Bay is a nice place and we are glad we spent time here.  We do however feel that it is a let down compared to the majesty that Prince William Sound presents.