Glacier Bay National Park
Do you remember going on vacation as a child, to a new place, a place of which you’d built an expectation as big and bold and beautiful as could be imagined? You’d arrive and the place just wasn’t what you expected. It wasn’t as big, or as grand as you had built in your mind’s eye… or once your eyes settled on the iconic sight of that place, you noticed that the sweep of the landscape produced other, unexpected surprises. Instead of being immersed in 360 degrees of grandeur, the heart of that place produced an image of only a quarter of the sweep.
Today, we gradually entered a place that meets, then exceeds, all expectations: Glacier Bay National Park. Original home of the Huna Tlingit people, these one-and –a-half million acres of grandeur was ours for today. Our transit into Glacier Bay started shortly after midnight; we had the great experience of waking up inside the 60-mile long channel as our introduction to the Park
After another great breakfast (I’ll start that diet as soon as I get home) we all stepped out on the decks of the National Geographic Sea Bird for our first visual smorgasbord, South Marble Islands. A “haul out” for hundreds of Steller sea lions, we also had the great opportunity to see puffins, black-legged kittiwakes and oystercatchers. My arms got tired lifting the camera. Not only this abundance of wildlife, we were also treated to a perfect lighting situation: a high overcast, which provided perfect lighting conditions, soft and gentle light that allowed the photos to shine.
The call of “bear” was announced, then repeated time and again: including one sighting of three cubs climbing a distant tree as mom circled protectively below. Bears, along with an abundance of mountain goats, then more bear, and yet more.
The light, what can you say...it was perfect all day. From the light and high clouds that produced a studio-like situation for the sea lions, to deep blue sky with white cirrus and a low sun that painted the ice-cream mountains of Glacier Bay.
Golden hour found us at Bartlett Cove, with the setting sun providing a palette that topped off the day. What a day.
