Glacier Bay National Park
A grand day of mystery and majesty awaited us as we boarded the M/V Baranof Wind on this calm morning. Above the low clouds draped over and around Bartlett Cove, the rarely seen Fairweather Mountains shone softly in the distance, promising us some brilliant views up bay. During the morning we alternated between light fog and bright sun, with a brilliant blue sky day soon winning out. While observing some sea otters, we spotted several unusual shapes on a gravel spit near Strawberry Island. They were the four moose silhouetted in the photo. What a special sighting to begin an amazing day!
There is really no way to describe the haunting experience of watching humpback whale blows hanging in the air on a still clear day, and we were accompanied by a number of whales on the northbound and southbound legs of today’s journey. Stands of magenta fireweed flowed over the Marble Islands and provided the backdrop for our views of Steller sea lions, tufted and horned puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, pelagic cormorants and other seabirds.
Just after lunch, we rounded Jaw Point and our initial view of the Johns Hopkins Glacier flowing down out of the surrounding snow-capped peaks was stunning indeed. We were fortunate to spend a long time drifting in front of the glacier, watching cascades of ice pouring off the face, enjoying the curious gaze of harbor seals on nearby icebergs, and basking in the glorious Alaskan sunshine.
A grand day of mystery and majesty awaited us as we boarded the M/V Baranof Wind on this calm morning. Above the low clouds draped over and around Bartlett Cove, the rarely seen Fairweather Mountains shone softly in the distance, promising us some brilliant views up bay. During the morning we alternated between light fog and bright sun, with a brilliant blue sky day soon winning out. While observing some sea otters, we spotted several unusual shapes on a gravel spit near Strawberry Island. They were the four moose silhouetted in the photo. What a special sighting to begin an amazing day!
There is really no way to describe the haunting experience of watching humpback whale blows hanging in the air on a still clear day, and we were accompanied by a number of whales on the northbound and southbound legs of today’s journey. Stands of magenta fireweed flowed over the Marble Islands and provided the backdrop for our views of Steller sea lions, tufted and horned puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, pelagic cormorants and other seabirds.
Just after lunch, we rounded Jaw Point and our initial view of the Johns Hopkins Glacier flowing down out of the surrounding snow-capped peaks was stunning indeed. We were fortunate to spend a long time drifting in front of the glacier, watching cascades of ice pouring off the face, enjoying the curious gaze of harbor seals on nearby icebergs, and basking in the glorious Alaskan sunshine.
