Kayaking in the Beardslee Islands, Glacier Bay, Alaska — Part III

Day 7

The sun rises early in Alaska in June, roughly around 4 AM, but with the beautiful mountains to the east, it’s a little later. Crawling out of the tent around 5 AM reveals the the sun just cresting the peaks. The view above was what we saw looking out the tent flap.

Emerging from the tent, the sight was breathtaking, though it would only last a few minutes more. As we enjoyed the spectacle, we noticed something swimming towards us from the island across the cove. Gradually, we could see a mother moose and her calf paddling toward the peninsula where we were camped.

As they stepped onto the land, the mother eyed us nervously. They headed toward the woods, but after a short while reappeared and headed back into the water. We had seen plenty of moose tracks in the sand the night before, so it was not surprising to have them visit. On the other hand, moose are often shy, especially with a baby in tow. With the sun climbing over the mountain and a mist hovering over the water, it was one of the most amazing sights we’ve seen in Alaska. A short time later, we saw another moose swimming to the island from where the first moose had come. In front of the camp, we saw a harbor porpoise and harbor seals swimming and feeding.

We could have stayed in that same spot for days, but we had to meet the tour boat early on the day after next so we broke camp, packed our gear, and began to paddle towards the mouth of Adams Inlet with the ebbing tide. As we kayaked by the peninsula where we had camped, we again saw whales feeding along the shore.

Kayaking near a whale has been a dream. The whale didn’t worry about us, focused solely on its feeding.

There were many rafts of marine birds in the Inlet. As we approached, they would often rise from the water, circle near us, and land on the water a little further away.

We kayaked to Muir Point and saw 2 kayakers camped west of Dirt Glacier, the first people we had seen while kayaking. After landing about a half mile further down, we set up our last camp of the trip. Soon we had a pleasant visit from the other kayakers, who were very experienced and had lots of stories to share about the area.

The afternoon was sunny, but the wind picked up and threatened to make the tent into a kite. We took turns going into the tent to weigh it down. We secured the sides of the tent with rocks and sticks, and we took the rainfly off until the wind died down.

In the water off Muir Point, we saw a group of white seabirds. Suddenly there was a great commotion, and we saw an eagle attempt to capture a gull. Eventually the eagle gave up and flew above our heads, heading toward a tree in view of our tent.

Muir Point is a wonderful location in Glacier Bay — you have a great view of Adams Inlet to the east, the expanse of Muir Inlet lies before you, and to the west lies the opening to Glacier Bay’s West Arm.

After supper, we were relaxing, enjoying our last night in Glacier Bay when Dick heard a twig crack and saw some branches moving up and down. Soon a large black bear emerged from the woods near where we were sitting. Through the binoculars, we could see that it was an adult bear, and it clearly knew we were there.

Black bear visiting the beach where we were camping at Muir Point

We began making noise and looking larger by holding our arms above our heads and then picking up the paddles and waving them. Of course, we had our bear spray ready, just in case. The bear again looked at us and then began continuing down the beach away from us. It gave us one last look and headed back into the woods.

With the eagle watching over us nearby and the bear long gone, we settled in our tent for the last night of the trip. Tomorrow we had an early rendezvous with the tour boat that would return us to park headquarters and a late afternoon flight out of Gustavus.

Day 8

The next morning we broke camp for the last time and headed to the Mount Wright pick-up area. There was a large group of kayakers, teenagers from New York City and their guides already waiting for the tour boat. They had kayaked in the Beardslee Islands and then up the coast and into Muir Inlet. When the tour boat arrived around 9 AM, it was a large group to get on board, but the crew skillfully directed us and in a short time all our supplies, kayaks, and kayakers were onboard. We continued on the tour with the guests who had boarded at the lodge earlier. The boat headed into the beautiful west arm of Glacier Bay.

Although we had taken the tour before, there are always new sights and amazing wildlife to see. The West Arm of Glacier Bay is open to cruise ships, and you’re likely to see one during the tour. The pictures that follow are from the tour boat in the West Arm.

A mother mountain goat and her kid soak up the sun

Two bald eagles with their prey on an iceberg

A section of Margerie Glacier calves into the bay

Epilogue

There are many more things we could say about our trips in Glacier Bay. (For an account of our first kayaking trip in the northern part of the East Arm, see https://medium.com/@rdieter/kayaking-in-glacier-bay-alaska-more-doable-than-you-might-think-f290055b68fd. Kayaking and camping by yourselves actually takes a lot of preparation. We’d be happy to share those kind of details, plus some of the things that can go wrong, with anyone who is interested. (rdieter004@gmail.com) In the end, we’d say these have been the best trips of our lives and we hope that others can experience this wonderful place in whatever way they can. Most important, we need to keep such wild places for future generations and for the many creatures that call it home.