20 Jul 23

We were up at 06:30 and got going almost immediately, with the anchor aweigh at 07:10, It was foggy out of the cove, with visibility less than 100 m for a few minutes, but it lifted after a few minutes. The run up Muir Inlet was uneventful, with good views of Casement and Riggs Glaciers along the way. McBride Glacier had kicked out a few small bergy bits, although we could not see up the inlet to the glacier face. Muir Glacier, at the head of Muir Inlet, was achieved at 11:45; 59-05.288’N, 136-22.597’W our northernmost point on this trip, or indeed, ever, on this boat, or any other. Neither Muir, Casement nor Riggs are tidewater glaciers any more, so they did not put any ice into the inlet. We saw a number of humpback whales feeding about half way along the northern leg of the Muir inlet. On our way out, we saw literally hundreds of sea otters and a few more whales.  As we cleared the southern end of the inlet, we decided to bypass N. Sandy Island Cove and head for Bartlett Cove, as the timing was right to get through the Sitakaday Narrows with the tide behind us this afternoon. The weather cleared up and we had excellent views of Mount Fairweather (15,000’ +) for the first time. We pulled into Bartlett Cove and anchored about 18:25. That is about the end of Glacier Bay N.P. for us. We will leave tomorrow and head to Hoonah, after a brief stop at the lodge.

58-27.423’N, 135-53.172’W; Log 76.4, Sum = 1683.1; Eng. hrs = 11.3, Sum = 3380.6