It has been an exciting, busy couple of weeks. We were blessed to have Debbie and Jim Fields join us in Ketchikan for two weeks. When they arrived we headed to Meyers Chuck and ended up staying 2 nights due to weather. We were able to talk to several residents who told us that there is a building boom going on even there. There are at lease 8 new homes being built and others being updated. After cinnamon rolls from the local baker we were ready to head out.

The trip to Petersburg was smooth and we ended up staying there for two nights also. Deb and Jim hiked all through town and beyond. We left on a wonderful, calm morning and ended traveling with a flotilla of Grand Banks most of the way to Tracy Arm. We traveled for a while with a pod of orcas which was great fun to watch.

Our anchorage in Tracy Arm was beautiful with a peek a boo view through some trees up the arm. In Tracy Arm we were able to ease our way through ice until we were in easy viewing distance of the glacier. There were several mother seals with young pup floating on some of the ice. We were glad the boat didnt seem to disturb them.

After Tracy Arm we worked our way to Barenoff Hot Springs stopping in Snug Bay, Red Bluff Bay. We had a great soak in the most amazing hot spring where there are two very hot pools in bowls in the rocks right next to a beautiful waterfall. The walk to get there has been improved since we were there last but it was still a scramble up roots and rocks to get to the pools.

We spent the last few nights before Sitka anchoring in Takatz Bay, Baby Bear Bay and DeGoeff bay loving the peace and wildlife. We hit Serguis narrows at slack so had no problems getting through. I think we all had mixed feelings about leaving the quiet bays and getting into Sitka.