Our northern most point on the trip was Glacier Bay National Park, and we requested reservations way back in January, when the park’s lottery for pleasure boats opened. To protect the waters, the park allows in only 25 private vessels a day; we felt fortunate to secure a permit and structured our cruising schedule around this destination.

After a night at Funter Bay Marine Park, we made way to Glacier Bay, arriving in time to attend the mandatory boater orientation, set our anchor, then dinghy to the lodge for Bob’s birthday dinner. Though not as grand as Yellowstone’s lodge or Yosemite’s Awahnee, this lodge still had that national park feel, with massive fireplace, high beams, and groups of other travelers interested in the outdoors. That evening it was great to have someone else cook, and at the end of our meal the whole room joined in to sing happy birthday to Bob when a candle-lit dessert arrived at the table.

Glacier Bay is enormous and it made sense to join a tour to see the highlights. The 120 mile, 8-hour roundtrip cruise up the bay to Margerie Glacier illustrated just how rich with wildlife this area is: we saw elephant seals, huge otters, tiny colorful puffins, mountain goats, a grizzly and moose. We were treated to glacial calving in front of Margerie – twice! What a sight!! The rain could not dampen the appreciation we felt at viewing this rugged, remote land.

Monday morning we rose early to drop Brad and Laie at the dock for their shuttle to the little nearby airport, and were treated to a sweeping view of the snow covered peaks we’d not yet seen through the rain and low clouds. After days of being socked-in, the sight took us by surprise and was perhaps more impressive because we weren’t expecting it. The sun was peeking out and the expanse of dark gray and white wilderness seemed to have no end. It was a “WOW!” moment. From the warmth of Kama Hele, we watched it grow smaller as we cruised away, but what a lovely lasting image we take with us. We’re off now to Hoonah, a Tlingit village on Chichagof Island.