Glacier Bay National Park
Today we got to spend time in Glacier Bay, one of the jewels in the National Park system. We woke up at the face of John Hopkins glacier and the beautiful blue hues of the ice stood out under the grey skies. It was a relaxing way to start the day as we saw hundreds of harbor seals resting on floating bergy bits of floating ice.
Then, just as we headed into breakfast, we were fortunate enough to see a huge piece of the glacier face crash right into the sea. It was very exciting to watch and hear the roar of white thunder as the pressure wave created by the falling ice rocked all those harbor seals.
After breakfast we slowly made our way southwards and to stop at various sites throughout the day to look for wildlife. The night before we picked up a National Park ranger who gave excellent presentations about the history and various places we cruised by.
In the afternoon we spent time watching tufted puffins, thick billed murres , kittiwakes and Steller sea lions on South Mable Island. The puffins were resting on the sea and it was a lovely look at these clown beaked seabirds.
The last event of the day was that the National Geographic Sea Lion came alongside in Gustavus at the Visitor Center’s jetty and we had a chance to go ashore for a leg stretch along a forest trail. We also visited a lodge and relaxed in front of a roaring fire, which was a treat after another very atmospheric Alaskan day.
