17 Jul 23

Terri and I slept like logs last night. We did not awaken until 08:00, to a cool, overcast, but calm morning. By 09:40, Ashley had still not surfaced, so we decided to get going anyway. After the hook was aboard, we motored up into Reid Inlet to check out the other anchorage; it has possibilities, is much closer to the glacier and head of inlet, but reputedly has not as good holding. Then, we gave “Sea Wolf” a close pass and departed Reid Inlet to head north to Johns Hopkins Inlet. Almost immediately, we saw a Princess line cruise ship heading toward us, coming out of Tarr Inlet (and the Grand Pacific Inlet) on their way to Johns Hopkins. We ignored them and had a good close look at the foot of the Lamplugh Glacier, which is beautiful, but does not reach the sea anymore, although there we a few tempting-looking chunks of ice on the beach. Ashley and I considered rowing over to grab a piece of, but before we did that, I spied a couple of likely looking bergy bits floating nearby. The first one was too big to get the net around, but the second one was just right, at about 25 pounds. I got the net around it and manhandled it on board, then, using hammer and screw-driver, carved out the dross down to the good, solid, 10,000 year old ice. After I filled the freezer (and then some), we threw the rest back and carried on to Johns Hopkins Inlet. As we turned the corner, past which no cruise ship shall pass, we encountered an ever-increasing quantity and frequency of bergy bits, some of which had seals basking on them, so we had to give a 1/4 mile separation. Despite the obstacles, we persisted until we were within 0.5 N-m of the face of the glacier; 58-50.578’N, 137-06.625’W - our westernmost location ever on this trip and, indeed, on this boat or any other. Again, superlatives fail me. We stopped the boat and drifted for more than an hour, took about 1000 photos between us, listened to the glacier creaking and popping and booming (like thunder-cracks) and occasionally dropping off good-sized chunks of ice into the bay, and just generally having a good time soaking in the moment. About 15:30, we finally got going out of the inlet. We decided a change of venue was appropriate, so headed to Russell I. Cove, right at the outlet of Tarr Inlet (where we will go tomorrow to visit the Grand Pacific Glacier), where it meets Johns Hopkins Inlet. After anchoring near shore in 15 m of water, we settled in to enjoy the sunset (did I mention the sun had come back out) and a lovely dinner, to the back-drop of the most stunning wilderness. “Sea Wolf” came into the anchorage later and dropped anchor on the other side of the bay. Another day in paradise. Oh, I forgot to mention how much I enjoyed a couple of G&Ts with 10,000 year old ice straight from the Johns Hopkins Glacier! How will we top this tomorrow?

58-55.487’N, 136-48.318’W; Log = 25.3, Sum = 1541.0; Eng. hrs = 3.4, Sum = 3358.0