Tracy Arm
What a day! Brilliant clear skies illuminated this crisp morning. We entered Tracy Arm about 5:30 AM and cruised along that pristine rock hallway crafted by ice. There is perhaps no other place in Southeast Alaska that has such bold beauty that displays itself in such a close and intimate way. Perfect visibility allowed us to gaze upward thousands of feet to mountain goats roaming the lofty heights. We saw just about every glacial geologic feature a tidewater glacier can carve such as glacial scouring, hanging valleys, truncated spurs, horns and aretes. At Sawyer Glacier we watched chunks of ice cascade down sheer rock faces and heard gunshot-like sounds as ice cracked under strain. The photo for today shows the front of South Sawyer Glacier hanging and ready to heave massive pieces of ice into the sea. The foreground is littered with ice from past calving events. The river of ice that makes up South Sawyer glacier slowly winds its way 20 miles down and out of the mountains from the Stikine Ice Field over a mile above sea level. Both the Juneau and theStikine Ice Fields have 2,500 square miles of ice and form a huge collecting basin for the snows that fall all year.
The black dots on the floating icebergs are harbor seals. We counted about 350 as we cruised toward Sawyer Glacier. The pups were born about a month ago and are in the process of being weaned.
We entered Williams Cove to spend the afternoon kayaking and hiking. Moving through the water in a craft under your own control offers a great way to see so much earth and sky. The lack of wind offered views with reflections, adding twice the scenery to our outing. Mossy trails wound through the spruce forest and took us under the verdant canopy. Ferns, mosses, lichens, and a mosaic of leaves covered the forest floor. Some of our guests made it up a steep trail to a long pond behind a lateral moraine. Aquatic plants and the remains of beaver activity rewarded their efforts.
We later cruised out of Holkham Bay and made our way towards Frederick Sound. After dinner the ship slowed as a humpback whale surfaced nearby. We watched its feeding activity for over an hour. What a glorious way to end the day - glassy water, a clear sunset and a humpback whale.
What a day! Brilliant clear skies illuminated this crisp morning. We entered Tracy Arm about 5:30 AM and cruised along that pristine rock hallway crafted by ice. There is perhaps no other place in Southeast Alaska that has such bold beauty that displays itself in such a close and intimate way. Perfect visibility allowed us to gaze upward thousands of feet to mountain goats roaming the lofty heights. We saw just about every glacial geologic feature a tidewater glacier can carve such as glacial scouring, hanging valleys, truncated spurs, horns and aretes. At Sawyer Glacier we watched chunks of ice cascade down sheer rock faces and heard gunshot-like sounds as ice cracked under strain. The photo for today shows the front of South Sawyer Glacier hanging and ready to heave massive pieces of ice into the sea. The foreground is littered with ice from past calving events. The river of ice that makes up South Sawyer glacier slowly winds its way 20 miles down and out of the mountains from the Stikine Ice Field over a mile above sea level. Both the Juneau and theStikine Ice Fields have 2,500 square miles of ice and form a huge collecting basin for the snows that fall all year.
The black dots on the floating icebergs are harbor seals. We counted about 350 as we cruised toward Sawyer Glacier. The pups were born about a month ago and are in the process of being weaned.
We entered Williams Cove to spend the afternoon kayaking and hiking. Moving through the water in a craft under your own control offers a great way to see so much earth and sky. The lack of wind offered views with reflections, adding twice the scenery to our outing. Mossy trails wound through the spruce forest and took us under the verdant canopy. Ferns, mosses, lichens, and a mosaic of leaves covered the forest floor. Some of our guests made it up a steep trail to a long pond behind a lateral moraine. Aquatic plants and the remains of beaver activity rewarded their efforts.
We later cruised out of Holkham Bay and made our way towards Frederick Sound. After dinner the ship slowed as a humpback whale surfaced nearby. We watched its feeding activity for over an hour. What a glorious way to end the day - glassy water, a clear sunset and a humpback whale.
