I know it's been a while.  Sorry about that.  Sometimes we just don't have internet. . . Imagine that!  Anyway, we left Sitka under cloudy skies but it wasn't raining.  That's a plus!  We headed for Sergius Narrows into Peril Straits (who comes up with these names??)  Who says you must go through Sergius Narrows at slack water?  Not Jon and not Holy Roller.  He told Jon that as long as you're going with the current then it's no problem, you just pick up a little speed.  Well, that we did.  We cruise at 8 knots and we went through Sergius Narrows at 16.5 knots!!  But we did it and Jon felt much better.  He didn't have to wait.  Patience is not his middle name!  Also along the way we met the Sitka ferry which goes through Neva Strait Narrows at 22.5 knots.  And he's big enough that he takes up the whole thing.  So we just pulled off to the side just before the narrows and waited for him.  He was appreciative and we didn't have to pull off into the rocks to avoid him.
It was a calm day on the Peril Straits and we stayed the night in Appleton Cove.  Still looking for bears.  The next morning we made our way to the east side of Baranof Island and then the fun begins.  We stopped by Kasnyku Falls on the way just to see

Then we made out way to Baranof Warm Springs.  What a place!!  We stayed two days.  The town of Baranof sits on a boardwalk alongside a waterfall and the hot springs feeds the town with continuous water and free hot water.

The highlight of the town for cruisers is the hot springs.  You walk up a boardwalk and trail to the actual hot springs

The hot springs are really hot! and the view from the springs is amazing!

Then further up the trail is Baranof Lake where Molly swam and swam and swam.  The only way to get rid of some of her energy.  But she loved it!

Then at the end of the day (or anytime) you partake of the public baths that are fed from the hot srpings.  Continuous flow of hot water to these tubs and private rooms make them very popular, along with the view from the tub of the bay.

We were sorry to leave Baranof Warm Springs.  But onward we went.  The next stop was Red Bluff Bay.  There we ran into a flotilla of 5 boats from Seattle, two of them from Tacoma Yacht Club.  Red Bluff Bay is also very beautiful.  We stern tied there because all the other boats were stern tied and this was the first time we got to use our new reel.  It worked flawlessly.  We looked like pros!  Narrow entrance opens up to a beautiful bay with a great waterfall.

We were told by people we met that Rocky Pass was easy to do, even though the book makes it sound ominous.  Just go through at high water. . . and that's no joke.  More on that later.  On our way to Rocky Pass we went back through Frederick Sound and saw more whales.  We had a feeding frenzy going on right next to the boat.  About a half dozen whales were swimming in a circle and then they all jumped straight up out of the water.  TWICE!!  We again, stopped the boat and just watched and listened for a while.  It was so calm in Frederick Sound that it was a very pleasant view.  Getting pics of whales is not easy, though.  

That night we stayed in Portage Bay just south of Kake.  Still in pursuit of bears, we finally found one.  On top of the dumpster!

 

Molly was off leash as we had just returned from a walk to the store.  But the bear didn't even pay us any mind.  He looked over at us and then returned to trying to get into the dumpster.  And he was doing a pretty good job.  Guess we won't be dumping our garbage just yet!

The next morning we left on a a rising tide to make out way through Rocky Pass.  The guidebook makes this sound so ominous but everyone we talked to said it's no big deal, including yacht club member Doug Johnson.  "Be careful, but dont' be afraid" is what he told us.  As it turns out, it's really well marked.  But we saw depths under the boat of 13.5 ft on an 11 ft tide.  You don't want to do this at low tide.  More great names, in Rocky Pass is Devil's Elbow, which they call the tricky part.  Again, it's well marked and we made it through, No Sweat!  Out into Sumner Strait on a very calm day, we made out way through the gilnetters, making sure we didn't get caught up in any fishing nets.  Quite the maze that morning.  We stayed that night in Exchange Cove where we ran into Firefly, another nordic tug from Sequim.  

We've now had several nice days in a row and we're feeling pretty good.  So we decided to change our plans and head up the Behm Narrows now instead of going to Ketchikan first.  We changed our plans probably 4 times that day but we ended up in Naha Bay.  Another wonderful spot.  There is a public dock there and waterfalls, protected bay.  We met Captain Kidd there and they were nice enough to invite us over for a birthday celebration for Jon, since it was his birthday.  Their friends on Misty Blue arrived also and we had a very nice evening visiting and eating a ding dong split 6 ways with some ice cream.  You make do.  Ken and Ruth on Misty Blue had been up here several times and gave us some good information on places to go in Behm Canal.  One of them was Margaret Bay where there is a Forest Service dock and a gravel road and trail that leads to a wildlife observatory.  We had missed Anan Bay Bear Reserve since we decided to change our route back south.  So we took advantage of Margaret Bay.  Turned out to be a great stop.  They have a platform that sits above the creek where the bear feed and wander through and so we got our fill of bears that day.

This was one of many bears that came through and he caught a salmon in the water and climbed up on the knoll right in front of us and ate it.  This place is not advertised anywhere but it's a great find.  Captain Kidd had gone into Anan Bay and said that it was a real pain to get into and that so many people go through there that the bears tend to disappear when the tourists arrive.  Margaret Bay is very small.  There was one tour while we were there but it was only 4 people.  You have to fly in or come by boat.  We were the only boat and the others came in by seaplane.  No schedules, no permits, just walk in, watch and leave when you want.  My kind of place!

From there we went further up into Behm Canal to Klu Bay where we met Captain Kidd and Misty Blue again.  We spent another nice evening together and then we headed for Misty Fiords.  Unfortunately the weather finally caught up with us and as soon as we turned the corner at Pt Whaley, we got slammed with wind and seas.  So we turned around and headed back the other way.  We spent one more night in Klu Bay where you would never know anything was going on outside.  Not even a ripple on the water while the wind is raging in Behm Canal.

There is one mooring ball there which was nice since the anchorage is 100 ft deep all around.  The next morning we got up early and headed down Behm Canal back to Ketchikan before the winds really got bad.  We pulled into Ketchikan yesterday with some wind but we are stuck here for a few days.  Forecast calls for 20-30 knot winds in Dixon Entrance through Tuesday.  So time to do laundry and grocery shopping.  Once the winds subside, we will make our way across to Prince Rupert and continue heading south for home.  I don't know that there will be much more to say since we will just be backtracking.  We're going to go home through the Broughton Islands so maybe we can find some sunshine.  We seem to have missed most of it this year but it's been a wonderful trip and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.  Between the whales, almost every day, the glaciers, the huge eagles, the otters and the bears, not to mention the beautiful scenery and the towns with a lot of character (and characters), this has truly been the trip of a lifetime.

We haven't posted for a while but that's for two reasons.  First, Jon went home for a few days from Juneau so nothing was happening during that time.  Second, since we left Juneau, we have been out of contact.
We left Juneau about 10 days ago and went back to Glacier Bay.  This time we took the boat up to the glacier and Molly had to go potty on the boat.  She's not allowed to get off the boat in Glacier Bay.  fter some initial hesitancy, she did splendidly.  By the time we left Glacier Bay she would go out on her own to the swim step and go potty.

But now more about Glacier Bay.  We arrived in the rain at North Sandy Cove and it rained hard all night.  We couldn't believe the kelp in the cove.

Then the next morning we awoke to dense fog.  Since we had 40 miles to go up to Margerie Glacier and then 40 miles back, we had to get going.  So out we went into the fog.  Fortunately, it didn't take it long to lift and by the time we got to the glacier, the sun was shining.  We got up to the glacier, turned off the motor and just drifted, watching and listening to the glacier calving, for about an hour.  It was really magnificent.  There are pics from the glacier in the previous post.

The next morning we left and headed out of Glacier Bay for Elfin Cove.  We had been told that we really should stop there.  Unfortunately, when we got there, the dock was full and the fishing boats were rafted 3 out.  So we decided to keep going on to Pelican, only another 2 hours.  Pelican is an interesting town.  There are no roads, no motorized vehicles except quads.  The entire town is built on a boardwalk.  This is the only motorized vehicles allowed in Pelican.

Tough to find someplace for Molly to play but there is an area down at the tideflats where we played some frisbee.  The only internet connectivity is at the library which is only open 2 hours/day.  So all the vistors head up to the library for those two hours to get their internet fix, including us.  A few hours is all you need to see the entire town and meet all the residents.  Unfortunately weather didn't cooperate so we were there for 3 nights.  We went to Rosie's for dinner and Rosie was tending bar, at 81 years old!  Several residents of the town helped her out as she was just filling in for her daughter who normally runs the place.  So we met quite a few of the residents just by going out to dinner.

We finally got to leave Pelican and we headed out Lisianski Straits to the ocean and down to Sitka.  We opted for the smooth water route so we were only out in the ocean twice for a total of about 2 hours.  However, we left at 5:30am and ended up going all the way to Sitka, about 10 hours.  It was a tiring day.  Either we were out in the ocean rolling around with the swells or we were widing our way through the rocks.  We originally had planned to take two days to make it to Sitka but out weather window was pretty small so we opted to just get it done.

Sitka is definitely the best town we've been to yet.  A lot of BIG fishing boats, nice neighborhoods, the harbor is huge and the town is well kept.  Today we went to visit the Alaska Raptor Center where they rehab birds, mostly eagles, falcons, hawks and owls.  That was really  interesting.

This guy sat with that 10 lbs of eagle on his arm for about half an hour talking about the eagles and answering questions.  Then we walked around and saw all the birds they have (about 21 at present) in various enclosures.  They have a clinic where they treat injured and sick birds and then reintegrate them into the wild.  If they can't release them back into the wild then they will give them to zoos and sometimes just keep them.

  

We will leave here tomorrow morning and head back north to the Peril Straits, and go across to the east side of Baranof Island.  We hear there is a bear reserve at Ell Cove, and we have yet to see a bear.  Onward to find the bears.

We took the trip of a lifetime and it wasn't what we expected.  We were looking for a way to get to Skagway because moorage in Skagway is hard to come by (they won't take reservations so you have to take your  chances) and it's 100 miles up and 100 miles back.  There's no anchorage around Skagway so the only alternative is to go to Haines and take our chances there.  Then we could take a ferry from Haines to Skagway.  We thought about taking the ferry up there but that would mean getting a hotel room, which are also impossible to come by.  Since we have Molly with us, that becomes even more difficult.  So we finally decided to fly up to Skagway, take the Chilkoot Trail Train and then fly back.  We did this in one day.  It happened to be an absolutely beautiful day and, I think, even the pilots were excited.  So we flew up to Skagway on a Cessna 10 seater by way of the icefields.  Oh my God!!  We thought the train ride would be pretty, but the icefields were amazing!

The last couple of pictures are Mendenhall Glacier which feeds into Mendenhall Lake in Juneau.  The pilot flew us over the Juneau icefield and right down Mendenhall Glacier and then landed in Juneau.  We took so many pictures but I can only include a few of them here.

The train ride was up the Chilkoot trail which is the route the gold diggers took during the gold rush of 1898.  Skagway is a very historical town, and fun to walk through.  We had plenty of time after the train ride and before the flight back to Juneau to walk all of Skagway.  The guidebook said only 1 cruise ship/day is allowed in Skagway, but that's changed because there were 3!  Lots of people and given that it was the nicest day of the summer this year, everyone was out in full force.  One of those days that was not planned but turned out to be a great day.

I forgot to tell this story.  Jon befriended one of the fishermen in Hoonah and he gave us some halibut that he had just caught.  Not knowing how to cook halibut, I quickly did some research.  We couldn't decided what to do so we seasoned each piece differently and had a taste test.  My sister was still with us for this part so we had a ball.  The fisherman said that he always pan fries his.  We grilled ours and then gave him some.  He thought ours was pretty good.  It was hard for us to decide which one was the best.  Pretty good dinner. . . for free!  

You probably won't hear from us for a couple of weeks.  Jon is leaving tomorrow to return home for a few days to take care of some business.  I'll stay here in Juneau just doing mundane chores like provisioning and laundry.  Once he returns on Sunday, we will start to head west our Icy Straits and Cross Sound and then south to Sitka.  My guess is we won't have any internet until we get to Sitka.  Talk to you in a couple of weeks.

Well, we have had a wonderful couple of weeks.  We spent several days in Juneau and our friends on Buster rented the last car in town and were gracious enough to let us tag along to see the sites around Juneau.  It was Celebration Weekend in Juneau which is an indian festival and that, with all the cruise ships, makes for a busy town.  But we did venture up to Mendenhall Glacier with Buster.  Of course, I didn't have my camera so we'll have to go back and get some pics.  Beautiful up there.  We went to see all about the Celebration Opening which is the indians rowing over Mendenhall Bar and into Juneau landing on Sandy Beach in Douglas, across Gastineau Channel from Juneau.  And we did make it to the Red Dog Saloon where Jon decided he really liked the pulled pork sandwich.

Once my sister arrived we headed back out on the water.  First stop Hoonah.  We had planned on staying in Hoonah a couple of nights because of weather.  But Kitty and I walked out to Icy Point and the old cannery.  Boy, they've turned that into a tourist trap all for the cruise ships.  The old cannery is shops (very expensive shops), some tiny restaurants and, believe it or not, a zipline.  But what we enjoyed was the eagles.  They are perched in a line on the breakwater, dozens of them.  All day they sit there and greet boaters as they enter the harbor.  Since it rained all day the next day, we had a marathon Mexican Train game.  Got to do something to occupy your time.

Once we left Hoonah, we headed out Icy Straits to Glacier Bay.  We had a wonderful cruise out to Glacier Bay, beautiful day and calm waters.  We went through our orientation at Glacier Bay Visitors Center and then anchored in Bartlett Cove.  The whales were all over Bartlett Cove so we were happy to sit there and just watch them.  Being short on time for my sister, we took a boat tour of Glacier Bay and saw the whole thing in one day.  And we picked a great day for it.  We could see the Fairweather Mountains.  The ranger told us that a day where you can see the Fairweather Mountain Range is a Fairweather day.  Usually, you can't see them because of the clouds.

This was a great tour because we had a park ranger on board telling us what to look for and taking us to all the right places.  We went up to Margerie Glacier and saw it calving.

We went by South Marble Islands with all the harbor seals and birds.  We saw numerous puffins.  We went by Gloomy Knob and saw mountain goats.

We spent all the next night watching the whales in Bartlett Cove.  Then we left the next morning heading back to Juneau expecting to stop at Swanson Harbor on the way.  We had a nice calm day on Icy Straits but as soon as we started to round the corner heading up Lynn Canal it wasn't so calm anymore.  As a matter of fact it was downright nasty.  Fortunately, Swanson Harbor is right on the corner so we didn't have far to go.  Our friends on Buster hailed us on the radio to ask if we were still coming in to Swanson Harbor to let us know that they were there because they had abandoned their plan to go to Auke Bay because it was so nasty.  Soon after we got there several fisherman came in grousing about having to get out of the seas.  So what do you do when the weather turns nasty?  You play another marathon Mexican Train game.  By the next morning all was well with the world again and we continued on back to Juneau.  Today we took a seaplane tour of the glaciers and visited Taku Lodge for a salmon BBQ.  That was wonderful.  You get a whole different perspective of the glaciers from the sky.  Here are some pictures of that.

This is the view from the lodge of Hole in the Wall Glacier.  Imagine looking at this all day long. 

 Jon and Patti in the lodge waiting for our salmon

 Jon helping the guy BBQ the salmon.

 Quite a feast!

I even managed to a get a picture of Dixie from the air as we flew over the docks.

You can barely tell it's here.  On the left, third boat from the top.

That's all for now.  My sister leaves on Tuesday and Jon and I will check the weather and see if we can make it up to Skagway.  We hear the Chilkoot Train ride is not to be missed!