Time to get one’s feet on dry land and evaluate a tour for our Shore Excursion department.  Actually the ‘feet on dry land’ didn’t last too long as Karen and I were waterborne once more, a trip to Taku Glacier, to the southeast of Juneau

It is a tidewater glacier located in Taku Inlet, it is as the deepest and thickest alpine temperate glacier known in the world, the Taku Glacier is measured at 4,845 feet (1,477 m) thick.

Off we set in a fast jet-boat, across the harbour and down the Gastineau Channel.

Once at the southern end of the Gastineau, we turn into Taku Inlet, the Silver salmon are running and the gill-netters are out.

Now, this is a tour with a difference.  We approach a brightly painted vessel, to all intents and purposes, it looks like a landing-craft and, sure enough, it is.  It is the mother-ship for the tour, glaciers by hovercraft…..

Each hovercraft can seat 4 and the pilot, so Karen and I, with 2 guests embark, our pilot, Mason, introduces himself and off we set.  We have earphones with a microphone, one needs them, the noise would be untenable were you not wearing them.  We make around 25 knots towards a creek and grass beds, it is strange, not stopping near land and we ‘hover’ up the creek, hoping for bear, (none) however bald eagles, ducks and salmon are in abundance.  The only challenge I had was that, with the spray, it was nigh on impossible to take photos through the perspex windows.  What surprises me is that the wildlife seem completely at ease with this noisy contraption ‘flying’ by.

Then a stop on a beach, I wander off towards a nearby creek in the (vain) hope that a bear may be gorging on salmon; plenty salmon, no bear……

Then across the inlet, towards the Taku itself.  The silt stretches a good ½-mile from the face itself and we run up the bank and across it.  Click on the video link below.

https://vimeo.com/138904222

The seaward-side looks as if dump-trucks have dropped tons of sand, mud and rocks in front of the face.

What appears to be just mud and rock is frozen, one can see large chunks of ice amongst it all…

As one walked across the soft mud, the tracks of bear, (darn it, I want my photo), moose and a lone wolf could be seen, (no photos of those I’m afraid).

Then, back in the Hovercraft  and back to our mother-ship before returning to Juneau.  An unusual and very enjoyable day.

Once we left Juneau, we use the Inside Passage for most of the evening and then pop out into the Pacific for a while, before turning into Sitka Sound and then to Sitka itself.

The remnants of what was once Hurricane Ignacio, born off the Baja peninsular, tracked north of Hawaii and then curved into the Gulf of Alaska as a ‘remnant’ Tropical storm.  We had to weather its effects during the trip down here, a large swell and 40-50 mph winds made for hard going, this was/is accompanied by copious amounts of rain.  Anchoring in Sitka would have been out of the question and so,  after discussions, we berthed on a floating dock, in a relatively sheltered bay.  This evening, we have to ‘stick’ our nose into it again, across Sitka Sound, rounding Biorka Island and parallel the west coast of Baranof Island before ‘ducking’ back inside at Cape Decision, we’re in for a rough few hours.

🙂