Endicott Arm / Ford’s Terror Wilderness
We awoke this morning, our first morning of the voyage, nearly 70 miles from our starting point in Juneau, Alaska. Through the night we motored south, hung a left at the mouth of a fjord called Endicott Arm and continued south east until a disconcerting sound rippled across our hull, waking many on board. While the sound was new to most it was nothing to fear as it signaled our first exposure to glacial ice as small pieces slowed our approach to their ultimate source – Dawes Glacier. Dawes is an extension of the Stikine ice field and was our destination for the morning. With Zodiacs lower and expectations high, we took to the water in search of ice and wildlife. The first of the two encountered were numerous Harbor seals scattered across the flattest and most accessible pieces of ice in the fjord. In tow with 3 to 4 week old pups most of these seals were females at the end of their weaning cycle, getting ready to send their little ones off into the world for the first time by themselves. There must have been hundreds of seals scattered across the landscape requiring us to drive with caution to not disturb mother and pup. This was a difficult task considering their numbers, but gradually we made it within a quarter mile of the face of Dawes Glacier, setting ourselves up for a spectacular display of force. While floating peacefully in front of this 1/2 mile wide ice wall the face rapidly changed before our eyes as apartment sized chunk after chunk collapsed into the water before us, sending reverberations our way. Little on earth it seems can compare to the spectacle of thousands of tons of ice exploding in a watery collision before your eyes while floating in a rubber Zodiac less than a mile away. It is one sure way to make a person feel small!!
Heading back down Endicott Arm we hung a right before reaching the mouth of the fjord and entered a tributary valley called Ford’s Terror. Inundated with sea water just like Endicott Arm is, Ford’s Terror is also much narrower. Some might say it is a more intimate slice of the fjord system. Winding our way between 4-5 thousand feet high glacially polished cliff, the terrain seemed to loom over us as certain sections narrowed to less than a couple hundred meters wide. Hemmed in this way we came across Harbor Porpoises, Marbled Murrelets, Belted Kingfishers and countless waterfalls of every shape, size and intensity. While the rain was consistent it only seemed to add to the sensory overload and, as was noted along the way, offered a chance to reflect on those who came before and scouted these lands with far fewer comforts than have been afforded us.
