Tracy Arm
Steep, glacially carved walls cradled the fractured blue ice of Sawyer and South Sawyer Glaciers at the head of Tracy Arm, the focus of the morning’s adventures. Following breakfast, Zodiacs carried us off for a water-level view of this rugged environment. We cruised past whimsical dragons and immense blocks of ice ribbed and sculpted by turquoise meltwater and shifting tides. Harbor seals curiously poked their heads up to investigate our black boats and snapping cameras. Once we reached the face of the glacier we waited and watched, listening to creaking and gunshot-like sounds from shifting seracs, towering pinnacles poised above the murky water laden with silt known as glacial flour. It takes patience and luck to see the crumbling and crashing of ice falling during the process of calving. Today we had both and were rewarded for our efforts, as seen in the photo.
When everyone was back aboard, the ship traveled back down the scenic fiord, retracing the path once taken by the glacier so long ago. Two U.S. Forest Service wilderness rangers who were camping and kayaking in the area loaded their boats onto the Sea Lion and joined us until we reached our afternoon location at William’s Cove, where they paddled off on their way. While we waited for shuttles to carry us to the cobble beach, a black bear was spotted as it walked toward our landing site. A few hoots and hollers from the staff caused it to retreat slowly into the woods. We then headed for shore and launched our own kayaks to paddle through the quiet bay. There was also a chance to stride off on a variety of hikes along the meadow-trimmed intertidal margin and into the shadows of the lush green forest blanketed in mosses and thickly vegetated with devil’s club, ferns, and blueberries.
Our first full day in Alaska seemed nicely concluded with wine-tasting, a bit of discussion with the naturalists during cocktail hour, and a delicious dinner as we cruised out towards the end moraine at the mouth of Tracy Arm. But as dinner finished and the ship’s gift shop opened, an announcement came over the P.A. that killer whales were just off the bow. Dusk settled in with stiff, black dorsal fins slicing up from the depths, and then slowly sinking again into their undersea world.
Steep, glacially carved walls cradled the fractured blue ice of Sawyer and South Sawyer Glaciers at the head of Tracy Arm, the focus of the morning’s adventures. Following breakfast, Zodiacs carried us off for a water-level view of this rugged environment. We cruised past whimsical dragons and immense blocks of ice ribbed and sculpted by turquoise meltwater and shifting tides. Harbor seals curiously poked their heads up to investigate our black boats and snapping cameras. Once we reached the face of the glacier we waited and watched, listening to creaking and gunshot-like sounds from shifting seracs, towering pinnacles poised above the murky water laden with silt known as glacial flour. It takes patience and luck to see the crumbling and crashing of ice falling during the process of calving. Today we had both and were rewarded for our efforts, as seen in the photo.
When everyone was back aboard, the ship traveled back down the scenic fiord, retracing the path once taken by the glacier so long ago. Two U.S. Forest Service wilderness rangers who were camping and kayaking in the area loaded their boats onto the Sea Lion and joined us until we reached our afternoon location at William’s Cove, where they paddled off on their way. While we waited for shuttles to carry us to the cobble beach, a black bear was spotted as it walked toward our landing site. A few hoots and hollers from the staff caused it to retreat slowly into the woods. We then headed for shore and launched our own kayaks to paddle through the quiet bay. There was also a chance to stride off on a variety of hikes along the meadow-trimmed intertidal margin and into the shadows of the lush green forest blanketed in mosses and thickly vegetated with devil’s club, ferns, and blueberries.
Our first full day in Alaska seemed nicely concluded with wine-tasting, a bit of discussion with the naturalists during cocktail hour, and a delicious dinner as we cruised out towards the end moraine at the mouth of Tracy Arm. But as dinner finished and the ship’s gift shop opened, an announcement came over the P.A. that killer whales were just off the bow. Dusk settled in with stiff, black dorsal fins slicing up from the depths, and then slowly sinking again into their undersea world.
