ADVENTURES

ADVENTURES

INFORMATION

 

 

 

 

"Glacier Bay & Beyond "

 

2013 Itinerary

Price Includes: 9 nights/10 days aboard the M/V Sea Wolf,

Day 1: Meet 8:00 AM at Bartlett Cove. Board the MV Sea. We will assemble in the main salon for introductions, an orientation discussing safety, boat layout, amenities and your Alaskan adventure. Then we will cruise up bay to Geike Inlet for our first paddle. Along the way we will have a kayaking introduction and lunch. After lunch we are paddling. Geike is a beautiful waterfall laden fjord that may offer a glimpse of black bears, wolverines, mountain goats and a large variety of seabirds and ducks. Then onward to our evening anchorage at Reid glacier, about a 4-hour journey filled with incredible vistas, wildlife on the beaches and possibly acrobatic whales in the waters. Along the way we will learn about the natural history of Glacier Bay, some of the research projects that the park is conducting and of course about the plentiful sea and wildlife. This is our evening anchorage watching the sunset over Glacier Bay. LD

Day 2: Breakfast at 8:00 am and we are off for a hike up the mountain and down the beach, fording a few glacial streams, which will bring us to the face of Reid Glacier. Here we will learn about glaciers geology, plant and animal succession and explore among the grounded icebergs. We hunt for ice worms and for those so inclined we scoop up glacial silt for wonderful glacial facials. On our intertidal walk back, we look under rocks to discover what the bears feast on during low tide, brown Bears, wolverine, small mammals and harbor seals all live in this area. Another beach offers bird lovers a binocular paradise, as it is a nesting ground for Arctic Terns, Kittlitz”s, Murrelets, Ptarmigan, Grouse, Plovers and a variety of other shore and sea birds. Once back on board, we will have lunch underway as we sail a course for Tarr Inlet where the Grand Pacific and Marjorie Glaciers cascade into the sea. Once here we will have a wonderful paddle along a sheer cliff, which is a Kittiwake and Puffin rookery and then out in front of Marjorie Glacier for a breathtaking experience as we watch an active calving glacier from a safe distance. Once our senses are filled we will head back to the Sea Wolf for a cruise down bay to our evening anchorage. BLD

Day 3: Breakfast at 8:00 am as the engines are started and we will make our way to Gloomy Knob looking for Mountain Goats, bears and wolves. Once at Gloomy knob we are off for a great kike up the knob for spectacular views and lovely alpine botany. Then onward we cruise tour evening’s anchorage where we will enjoy an afternoon paddle at the mouth of Muir Inlet. BLD

Day 4: Breakfast underway as we make our way up Muir Inlet, the east arm of Glacier Bay National Park. Our activities here depend on wilderness water opening/closing dates. We will go on an amazing hike by McBride Glacier with a paddle either up to Riggs Glacier or from Muir Glacier to Riggs. The shorelines have a great variety of shore birds, vista’s and the possibilities of seeing bears, wolves or moose. Then once back to the boat we are off to our evening anchorage and dinner. BLD

Day 5: Breakfast at 8 am. Sometimes we have a morning paddle at N. Sandy if the tides are right and if not we head down bay to another pristine paddle area. N. Sandy Cove is a very rich ecosystem that supports black bears, moose coyotes, and a plentiful marine environment. We kayak around the shores scanning for Black Bears and Moose then paddle over to Puffin Island for a truly wondrous look at a low tide vertical intertidal zone. This zone is home to hundreds of sponges, periwinkles, whelks, sea stars, sea cucumbers and urchins to just name a few species who literally hang here awaiting the return of the high tide. Back on board the Sea Wolf we will head to S. Marble Island to view a large Stellar Sea Lion Haul Out and a seabird-nesting rookery from the Sea Wolf. Then we cruise onward to Dundas Bay. Dinner and this is our evening anchorage.BLD

Day 6: Breakfast at 8:00 am and a hike exploring Dundas Bay. Here we will explore the erratic boulders climbing on them for views of the rivers and surrounding meadows. Otters, black bears, wolves and moose as well as hoary marmots graze these meadows and feed upon the intertidal dinner plate. Then we cross over a river for a brief foray through Sitka Spruce and up a little ways on the mountainside to explore and learn about a mature muskeg. Here you will see bog plants such as orchids, an insect eating plant called a sundew, stunted spruce, hemlock, marsh marigolds and violets. This is the end of a plant life cycle that starts from the rocky lands just exposed by glaciers and ends as a mossy watery bog called a muskeg. Back on board for lunch and then a paddle up the bay looking for wildlife. Once back aboard we will transit to our evening anchorage. BLD

Day 7-10: Breakfast at 8:00 am then we are off to the wild outer coast. This portion of the adventure is weather dependant. If we have the right window we will head to Lituya bay, if not then we will explore the west side of Chichagof Island. Both options are spectacular and offer great kayaking, hikes, wildlife and marine mammals. BLD, Day 10 BL

Option 1: Lituya Bay: Breakfast as we cruise to Lituya Bay. Late afternoon hike by the Paps (Sea Lions) In the morning we will enjoy an all day hike to Eagle River: This hike meanders through coastal meadows, forests and the rocky outer coast ending at an old mining area on the Eagle river. Wildlife, seabirds, terrestrial birds abound in this area. The Ruby Sands Mining Company operated here until the early 1900’s and there are many pieces of their equipment still in place. On the rocky beaches of the coastline there are the remains from a few of the ships that have succumbed to the power of the sea over the past century. The next day we will Kayak /Hike and have a beach picnic on Cenotaph Island: Cenotaph has many hidden jewels, Jim Huspeth’s old spring, an old growth forest, a seabird rookery and fossils dating back 65 million years. Time and weather dependant we may also hike up Lituya Glacier :In 1958 a giant displacement wave scoured the mountain and the moraine margins of Lituya Bay. The wave on the North side of the bay peaked at 1,720’ and on the south side 300’. The evidence of this event is still very apparent as old growth trees blanket the area above the scar and only willow and alder populate the wave swept margins. In 2009 on Lituya Glacier, a glacial lake broke through the ice and flooded down the side of the glacier carving out new land and sending massive icebergs into the bay. This is a landscape ever evolving.

Option2: Chichagof Island Chichagof Island is the northernmost and second largest island of Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage, and is separated from the mainland by an extension of the Inside Passage. The glaciers which gouged this waterway to depths of over 1,000 feet carved on Chichagof a shoreline so convoluted that it measures 742 miles in length — as long as the coast of a circular island twenty times as large. This area is the West Chichagof-Yakobi wilderness area of the Tongass National Forest. Tongass National forest is home to very few people and has an abundant wildlife population. River otter, beaver, deer, brown bears, sea lions, humpback whales, the occasional gray whale, Orca, harbor seals, Stellar sea lions and many species of birds all live within this ancient forest. We will transit from our last stop in Glacier Bay to the Myriad Islands. Where we will start paddling soon after lunch around the outer islands and their shell beaches, rocky cliffs, and forests of pine and grass. We hope to see rafts of sea otter’s frolic and feed in these nutrient rich waters. We will anchor in Ogden passage for the night. The next day we will paddle our way through the inner Myriads exploring the rocky shorelines. The low tides offer beautiful views of the intertidal creatures both from your kayak or on shore. Eventually we head back "inside," where from still fjords and bays we explore the dim rain forest with its mossy carpet and towering spruce. We also hike into the muskeg, with its stunted pinus contortus, insectivorous plants, grassy meadows, and many small pools edged by soft mosses. Over the next few days we will explore the mainland looking for bears and other creatures of this ancient forest. Note: These itineraries are subject to change based on park area closures/openings, weather and travel conditions and wildlife movements. We try to be where we should see whales, bears, sea lions, eagles, wild flowers and soaring landscapes but the anchorage may change dependant on the above. Other destinations may include Fingers Bay, Sundew Cove, Sebree Cove, the East Arm and the Islands. Many times we are following the wildlife as they move with their food source so we like the flexibility so we can have the greatest viewing possibilities. We serve Alaskan seafood for most lunches and dinners but can cater to any diet needs with enough advance notice.

 

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