After hearing about kayaking in the inlets where the glaciers still reach the water (a fast disappearing phenomenon) we could not resist planning a trip of our own. Our good friends, the Fritzels, were up for the adventure, so we loaded up the camping gear and rented some double kayaks.We all felt like the events of this trip were orchestrated well beyond our best planning efforts. God is good. We originally planned to go to Surprise Glacier which is about 40 miles (more than an hour) out of Whittier. Honey Charters, the water taxi company, thought I had said Surprise Cove about 15 miles out of Whittier.
So after a little miscommunication and "sticker shock" we settled on Blackstone Bay just 30 minutes by water taxi out of Whittier. With the help of the very friendly crew we settled into the most picturesque camping area I have ever seen. It was right out of the REI catalog.The beach at this camping area was full of skipping rocks which the boys occupied themselves with just about every waking hour we were in camp. The stream that emptied into the bay next to our site was full of Dolly Varden. They were feeding constantly on the endless supply of
minnows flowing down stream. Troy proved they could be caught and I followed his lead. We had two nice trout in the cooler Friday night ready to be served with eggs for breakfast. Saturday morning the boys were up before 6:00 with the daylight and the sound of raindrops. As we prepared breakfast a crisp, blue sky began to approach over the mountains from the south. Much to our surprise there was hardly a cloud in the sky by 10:00 AM when we headed into the bay in our kayaks to explore the waters of Blackstone Bay.
After a two hour paddle past countless waterfalls we stopped for lunch and explored Willard island. The boys found an otter skeleton and a great bouldering rock. After lunch we headed toward Beloit Glacier. As we paddled it felt as though the Glacier just kept getting farther away. We had paddled about 7 miles and we were still about 2 miles away. Icebergs and "bergie bits" were strewn in the water. We could hear the thundering calving of the
glaciers. At one point the entire face of Beloit let loose. With tired paddlers we decided it was time to turn back toward camp. The boys did great. They loved paddling and had a good attitude over the entire 7 hour journey. The sun was so intense that despite using sunscreen we all had sunburns at the end of the day. Back safely at camp we enjoyed the last of the sun and campfire conversation before tucking in for the night.Sunday morning was cool and wet. The rain stopped about a half hour before the water taxi arrived which allowed a nice, dry window to get loaded up and head back to Whittier.
The most incredible part of this story is that everyone we talked to upon our return to Anchorage spoke of a cloudy, rainy Saturday! It didn't seem to matter where they had gone for the weekend - Homer, Anchorage, even Whittier itself - no one had blue skies and sunshine!
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