Tracy Arm
We spent the entire day exploring what the naturalists all believe is the most dramatic fjord in all of Southeast Alaska...Tracy Arm. The M.V. Sea Bird entered into Holkham Bay early this morning by crossing over a shallow gravel bar, which is actually a submerged ancient terminal moraine. It was left here many millennia ago by a tremendous glacier that carved Tracy Arm out of the heart of the coastal mountains of mainland Alaska. Our activities started with hiking and kayaking in a scenic little bay called Williams Cove, but this only whetted our appetites for some real quality time in the nearby spectacular fjord. Our ship set sail during lunch, left Williams Cove, and proceeded up the entire 22 nautical miles to the glacial head of the waterway. Along the way, we marveled at the scenery in this amazing flooded cut in the earth. It is bordered by steep-sided metamorphic walls of rock fairly covered with rain forest trees which seem to defy gravity. We told our guests to watch for bears along the walls, but many refused to believe it was even possible for bears to exist in a habitat that looked too steep even for mountain goats! Well, they finally believed us when we found a black bear right down by the water’s edge munching on barnacles exposed by the low tide. Everywhere we looked were textbook examples of glaciology. The naturalists spoke of ‘U-shaped Valleys’, glacial scars, retreating glaciers, hanging valleys, arretes, cirques, morraines, and then blue ice when we finally reached the great tidewater glacier at the head of the fjord known as South Sawyer. The glacier entertained us with cracks and pops, and eventually a big chunk broke loose and fell into the water. From the Foredeck we could see literally hundreds of harbor seals resting on floating ice debris near the face of the glacier, and all seemed well. What a great finish to a very rewarding week in Southeast Alaska.
We spent the entire day exploring what the naturalists all believe is the most dramatic fjord in all of Southeast Alaska...Tracy Arm. The M.V. Sea Bird entered into Holkham Bay early this morning by crossing over a shallow gravel bar, which is actually a submerged ancient terminal moraine. It was left here many millennia ago by a tremendous glacier that carved Tracy Arm out of the heart of the coastal mountains of mainland Alaska. Our activities started with hiking and kayaking in a scenic little bay called Williams Cove, but this only whetted our appetites for some real quality time in the nearby spectacular fjord. Our ship set sail during lunch, left Williams Cove, and proceeded up the entire 22 nautical miles to the glacial head of the waterway. Along the way, we marveled at the scenery in this amazing flooded cut in the earth. It is bordered by steep-sided metamorphic walls of rock fairly covered with rain forest trees which seem to defy gravity. We told our guests to watch for bears along the walls, but many refused to believe it was even possible for bears to exist in a habitat that looked too steep even for mountain goats! Well, they finally believed us when we found a black bear right down by the water’s edge munching on barnacles exposed by the low tide. Everywhere we looked were textbook examples of glaciology. The naturalists spoke of ‘U-shaped Valleys’, glacial scars, retreating glaciers, hanging valleys, arretes, cirques, morraines, and then blue ice when we finally reached the great tidewater glacier at the head of the fjord known as South Sawyer. The glacier entertained us with cracks and pops, and eventually a big chunk broke loose and fell into the water. From the Foredeck we could see literally hundreds of harbor seals resting on floating ice debris near the face of the glacier, and all seemed well. What a great finish to a very rewarding week in Southeast Alaska.
