Hello again adventurers! This is Ilene and I’m back with another post from our second camping trip of the season, a four-day journey from Columbia Bay to Glacier Island. I have to give a grateful shout-out to my wonderful expedition mates, Elaine and Dennis from Long Island, and Susanne and Matthias from Switzerland! What wonderful people to paddle with in paradise.
We began our trip in peaceful Heather Bay, where we enjoyed an afternoon of paddling around lots of ice in Columbia Bay. We saw a lot of Sea Otters, Harbor Seals and many birds and ducks.
Look at that blue ice! There’s nothing else like it in the world!
Anyone who has witnessed the beauty of Columbia ice will tell you that the photos and videos don’t do the scenery justice. You really have to come out here to experience it! Paddling around ice is one of my favorite things to do, so I can’t help myself to post lots of photos of icebergs. They’re all so uniquely mesmerizing.
From Heather and Columbia Bays we paddled south to the north side of Glacier Island, where we spent a peaceful night, looking back at Columbia Bay and the Chugach Mountains beyond. We also witnessed many Humpback whales fluking. It got to the point where I heard someone say, “Oh, it’s just another whales’ tail.” I could watch that all day long and never get bored.
In the morning just before bidding farewell to Susanne and Matthias (who had to return a day earlier than the rest of us) we woke up to a blue-bird sky and decided to take the opportunitiy for a lovely hike up the hillside. We were gifted with this magnificant view, where we could see both to the north (into Columbia Bay) and the south. We had a photo shoot at the top and spent an hour basking in the stillness and tranquility of our surroundings.
Dennis, Elaine and I continued around to the south side of Glacier Island, a rugged and exposed coastline with steep vertical rockfaces, caves and an expansive view of Prince William Sound.
Oh and did I mention hundreds of Sea Lions. . The south side of Glacier Island is full of them.
That night we enjoyed a fire on the beach, as Sea Lions cruised by repeatedly to ensure we were staying out of trouble.
On pick-up day we completed our journey of the entire south side of Glacier Island, and rounded the point back to the north side. We enjoyed one final extremely close encounter with a mother Harbor Seal and her newborn pup. Paddling out of Jackson Cove we just happened to be in the right place at the right time and witnessed this mother nursing her newborn. We watched in silent awe this special moment, which none of us will soon forget.
I will leave you with that incredible image to inspire you to make your Alaska trip-of-a-lifetime a reality! The wildlife, ice and breathtaking scenery awaits you. I’m waiting for you also:) Check out all of our camping trip and day trip options. Give us a call or an email and book a trip today! We’ll see you soon.