At 0630 we were approaching one of the two tidewater glaciers at the head of one of Alaska's most spectacular fjords. Tracy Arm is about 22 miles long, and like so much of Southeast Alaska, its landscape has been sculpted by ice. Along the length of the fjord, steep, smooth rock walls plunge vertically down to the water, and thin ribbons of waterfalls spill down the rock faces.
With full coffee mugs in hand, we gathered on the deck for close looks at Sawyer glacier, and after an intermission for breakfast, we were on deck again to see South Sawyer glacier. So far, no one has found a way to induce glaciers to calve. This morning we were just plain lucky. After several small chunks of ice tumbled and spilled off the face of South Sawyer, suddenly there was lots of activity. Enormous sections of ice tumbled down the glacier's face, and seconds later we heard the loud, rumbling, thunderous sound of crashing ice. It was spectacular!
For about 3 hours as we traveled down the fjord, our scenery was of steep rock faces, ribbons of waterfalls and gracefully curving rock domes. After lunch we anchored and spent the afternoon kayaking in a calm cove, or walking through the nearby forest through an impossibly green, lush landscape.
The day had been tremendously full, but there was more in store - as we were finishing after-dinner coffees and dessert, more than a dozen humpback whales were feeding beneath a stunning sky of pinks, reds, oranges and silhouetted mountains. Sunset seemed to linger forever, and the whales kept blowing and diving all around us.
