Leg 10 – Put the fun aside, a.k.a from tugboats and mud pits (Loop Bartlett Cove to Muir Glacier)

Title explanation

• Leo translated a German saying into English and everybody thought it was very funny!
• Rebecca explained why she would not want to experience the Inside Passage from a tugboat.
• Hank cannot stop talking about the mud pits we came across in front of the glaciers we visited.

Entering another world – Glaciers and icebergs

Paddling into Muir Inlet felt like being in higher altitude – scarce vegetation, sandy slopes, jagged mountains and little wildlife made us feel like we were in a different world. Just before we reached Muir Glacier, we paddled through light blue glacial waters that rather resembled a lake than the ocean. The reflections of the surrounding mountains were out of this world!

Another highlight was approaching Mc Bride glacier, a bottleneck inlet that was clustered with all different sizes of icebergs. With fog coming in and the tide against us, we were gliding past these ancient remains of this tidal glacier.

Rich wildlife

Filtering water at Wolf Creek, while watching brown bears foraging in the intertidal zone, was very humbling. These giants clearly knew of our presence and continued to stick to their usual business. Humpback whales were feeding in the currents, while sea otters were rafting up or resting on ice floats. Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve is a great example for the recovery of a healthy sea otter population, with a number of 5.000 animals counted in an aerial survey in 2012.
(Picture shows our seven bear cans containing our food supplies)

In the footsteps of John Muir

John Muir, naturalist, conservationist and explorer, came to study the glaciers and environment multiple times in the late 1800s. As a matter of fact, he built a cabin at the terminus of Muir Glacier at that time, with the ruins still there today. The glacier has retreated approximately 30 miles. We tried our best for half of the day, but were not able to find them. Big thanks to Brad and Phil, who sent us helpful clues from the outside world to find it. We will be back!

The threesome

Filmmaker, adventurer and editor Hank Leukart joined us for leg 10 and did the most incredible job in being an awesome team member and capturing us during the final 10 days. He didn’t complain when we fed him cream of wheat, plus he didn’t mind getting up at 3:50 in the morning – kudos!

Next steps

Our plans keep changing but it looks like we will stay in Gustavus for a few more days before heading south to Petersburg and Prince Rupert to film more interviews. Stay tuned, we will post another more detailed blog about the people we will talk to!