Tracy Arm
This morning the National Geographic Sea Bird awoke in mist amongst tall walls of the beautiful Tracy Arm. In the cradle and surrounds of U shaped valleys so characteristic of glacial signatures, the ship traveled through the fjord created in the wake of glacial carving and retreat. Like sandpaper scouring the land, rock and ice had carved a fjord 1200’ deep and over 30 miles long. Traveling to where the fjord ends, it was as if we were traveling back in time.
Leaving big trees behind, the deeper into the long and winding fjord we traveled, the rawer the earth became. Entering the treeless void we started searching for mountain goats in the impossible places they call home and sure enough two were seen clinging to perch and precipice amongst alders and granite. Icebergs in turquoise waters dotted the length of the arm and the dynamic ebb and flow of ice would continue to be the theme for the day, as we would get up close and personal with South Sawyer glacier.
South Sawyer Glacier is a part of the Stikine Ice field (1 of 3 ice fields in Southeast, Alaska) and is roughly 25 miles long, reaching the Canadian border about 12 miles from its face. Getting closer to the glacier the before breakfast bow crowd saw impressive calving from afar. Fingers crossed we boarded trusty Zodiacs and inched our way though ice after breakfast exploring the denizen of harbor seals in the echo of occasional icefall. The other worldly scene of a tidewater glacier is humbling for we are reminded through the power of “white thunder” that we are but a small mark on the bigger map of the universe. It wasn’t long before the face of South Sawyer became unglued, unleashing towers and faces of white and blue ice along its ¾ mile long face. Between the glacial hue of blue, the sound of calving ice, and the waves caused by birth of brash, growler, bergy bit and iceberg our experience in Tracy Arm will long be one we remember.
After lunch we set out on our final outing from the National Geographic Sea Bird and from the stern loaded into kayaks to enjoy the calm of Tracy Arm not far from the ice choked waters of South Sawyer. Paddling amongst brash ice in the company of harbor seals some visited a waterfall while others enjoyed the peace and quite of deeper waters reflecting on the amazing week we have experienced in Alaska!
