Tracy Arm Fjord, Williams Cove

Today’s activities were the grand finale of a week best described as wonderful, in the most literal sense. Our week has indeed been full of wonders, and today was no exception.

We awoke this morning to spectacular views of sheer rock walls of glacially carved Tracy Arm Fjord up which we were cruising towards its head. As a brisk breeze blew, we marveled at the power of the Sawyer Glacier we would soon view at close range. Into the spectacular rocks of the Great Tonalite Sill were carved numerous hanging valleys; rounded peaks were ground down by centuries of ice and rock flowing over them; moraines were left behind by the retreating river of ice.

After bringing the Sea Bird up close to the face of Sawyer Glacier, we piled into Zodiacs and, best of all, kayaks, to get up close to the icebergs calved off the glacier’s face. While we toured the area among the bright blue, luminous-looking icebergs formed by centuries-old weather, the water, and the whimsy of fate into fanciful forms, we spied and were spied upon by a number of harbor seals, which enjoy the protection of the iceberg-rich, rock-flour-clouded waters near the glacier’s face. We were lucky enough here to pick up Tim and Eric, two wilderness rangers working in the Tracy Arm-Ford’s Terror National Wilderness Area.

As we motored down-valley, first we heard from Eric and Tim about the area, and what their jobs entail. We soon stopped at Hole-in-the-Wall waterfall, to marvel at the steep falls coming down the rock face, and observe the erosive power of simple cobbles as they ground a hole for themselves in the granitic rock. We took the opportunity to take a group photo at this scenic spot, to help us remember our experience in Southeast Alaska.

While we made our way towards the site of our afternoon activity, National Geographic writer and photographer Kim Heacox gave a talk about some of his Alaska experiences, along with showing some spectacular slides of Alaskan landscapes and wildlife. It is hard to underestimate the impact that Kim’s perspective as a longtime Alaskan had on our appreciation of this, one of the wildest parts of our modern world.

Although the morning included some exercise, we had yet to stretch our legs, and Williams Cove offered us a great opportunity. We made our way through the Sitka Alder bordering the coastline into the more open understory of the Sitka Spruce-hemlock forest behind it. After moving along bear trails in a final interaction with the forest, we moved back to the beach for a final look at the denizens of the intertidal zone. In the Zodiacs, we spotted a black bear on our way back to the ship as it foraged the intertidal zone across the cove. As some of us had cocktails and others were unloading the Zodiacs, four orcas (“killer whales”) joined us a mere 200 meters distant! As the sun set, bathing the orcas, the forest and the Sea Bird in lambent light, bringing out the bright sapphire blue of the icebergs, we tracked these majestic marine mammals across the Fjord.

We certainly learned a great deal this trip, but perhaps the most lasting lesson will be a deep appreciation for the beauty, the power, and the majesty of unsullied, unaltered, unmodified wild nature.