Bald Eagles, Glacier Ice, and Alaska Doing Alaska Things
Another week in Southeast Alaska is in the books, and this one had everything: whales, bears, rain, glaciers, surprise wildlife encounters, and just enough chaos to keep expedition life interesting.
We started the week in Sitka welcoming a fresh group of guests aboard, and the energy right from the start was fantastic. Everyone seemed excited to get out exploring, which always makes for a fun week as a guide. Our first stop was the Magoun Islands, a place we had visited the previous week, so this time around it already felt a little more familiar. Since it was the guests’ first full day, the morning focused on activity orientations and skiff rides. I got to run my own skiff tour around the islands and into the lagoon, which was a blast. We spotted sea stars, plenty of bald eagles, and at one point counted about seven eagles hanging around a single rocky point. Later we discovered why: apparently there was a dead harbor seal nearby that we completely missed seeing. Nature can be beautiful and mildly horrifying at the same time.
That evening, I gave my Photography Tips & Tricks for Cell Phones presentation, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. Everyone actually brought their phones and followed along, which made it much more interactive and fun. Mid-presentation, a pod of Dall's porpoise showed up alongside the ship, giving guests an immediate opportunity to test out some of the photography techniques we had just talked about. Honestly, you couldn’t have planned better timing if you tried.
The next day brought us to a new destination for many of us: Linenberg Inlet near an old cannery area. On the charts it didn’t look like much, but it turned out to be a surprisingly fun stop. It absolutely poured rain most of the day, but guests explored old cannery ruins, wandered through a fantastic intertidal zone, and embraced the true Southeast Alaska experience of being perpetually damp. My skiff tour there ended up spotting Sitka black-tailed deer, a mink, and some Steller sea lions, which is not bad at all for a location most of us had never visited before.
Tuesday came with a schedule change thanks to BMPs—Best Management Practices related to bear hunting activity—which meant our original morning location was off the table. Instead, we pivoted into a wildlife cruising morning, which honestly turned out even better than planned. Near Hidden Falls Hatchery we found two humpback whales feeding just outside the hatchery, and later on our way toward Pavlof Harbor we encountered an incredible group of killer whales. The looks we got were unreal. Pavlof itself remains one of those perfect half-day operation spots where guests can paddle around independently within a safe boundary and simply enjoy the silence and scenery without a guide constantly narrating every tree, rock, and bird. Sometimes the best guiding is knowing when to let people just experience Alaska on their own. Of course, Pavlof also delivered a couple of coastal brown bear sightings because Alaska likes to overachieve.
Wednesday brought us to Port Althorp and the always-amazing Inian Islands. The Inians rarely disappoint. Between the Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks and splashing through the currents, the dramatic scenery, and the open views toward the Pacific Ocean, it gives guests a completely different perspective of Southeast Alaska. Suddenly you realize you’re not just cruising around protected islands—you’re at the edge of a very big ocean.
Thursday meant heading back into Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve for glacier day. There was a huge amount of ice in the bay this week, which meant the entire crew got an unplanned 4 a.m. wake-up call from ice scraping along the hull as we carefully navigated toward the head of the bay and Margerie Glacier. Nothing quite says “good morning” like the sound of floating glacier chunks grinding against the ship.
Operations near Lamplugh Glacier included kayaking, skiff tours, ridge hikes, and moraine meanders. I spent most of the morning out on the moraine leading two separate groups, and the ice conditions were absolutely spectacular. We heard avalanches rumbling down the high peaks and even witnessed a calving event, which always leaves guests completely speechless. As we cruised out of the bay, Gloomy Knob delivered plenty of mountain goats, though sadly South Marble Island failed to produce puffins this week. There were definitely a few disappointed faces onboard after that.
Our final full day took us back to reliable old Neka Bay, which is always a good excuse to disappear into the forest for a while. I led what we call a “Bush Lite”—not quite a full bushwhack, but enough to get guests off trail and into the real Southeast Alaska environment. We wandered into a muskeg, and to my delight, everyone absolutely loved it. There’s something funny about watching people become genuinely excited about standing in what is essentially an Alaskan swamp.
This morning we said goodbye to our guests back in Juneau , and hearing so many people say the trip exceeded their expectations never really gets old. It’s one of the best parts of the job. Now we reset the boat, welcome another full group aboard, and do it all over again. Hopefully with a little less rain this week—but just in case, I picked up another warm base layer. Experience has taught me that optimism is great, but dry layers are better.
