It feels as though our entire journey north has been leading up to us witnessing a glacier in all her glory. We’ve been learning to notice the signs of glaciers as we admire the stunning wilderness in the fjords we transit. We went up Tracy Arm today in hopes of seeing an active tidewater glacier. As we made our way farther and farther into the fjord, it became apparent that National Geographic Quest was completely surrounded. There was ice everywhere and of every size. Some pieces were small enough for a cocktail, and others were as large as skyscrapers. We embraced the ice and spent our morning cruising around the beautiful sculptures. Many intrepid explorers made a landing on the beach and even got a taste of some of the ancient ice. It seems the glacier was intent on giving us only a tease at her might, so we will rally north to Glacier Bay National Park in search of a closer look at a tidewater glacier tomorrow. Oh…and some very brave souls took the opportunity to polar plunge in the fjord!
5/9/2024
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National Geographic Venture
Tenakee Bay
Today’s wind and rain painted the sea surface a dark gray, a gray that followed us throughout the day and provided a gorgeous backdrop for the verdant greens that characterize Southeast Alaska. After a presentation on humpback whales from our National Geographic explorer, Lauren Eckert, we tucked into the protected Tenakee Bay and explored the shoreline by foot. Our hikes revealed fresh bear scat, a brown bear claw, blooming skunk cabbage, emerging earth worms, a mosaic of lichens, frolicking ravens, bounding deer, a pair of adult bald eagles, and a rare Northern goshawk. Bushwhacking was the name of the game, and arguably the best way to collect stories in this unique bay. We swapped these tales as we cruised Chatham Strait, where the rain continued, and the dark gray closed out a memorable day.