Today we arrived in the adventure capital of Alaska: the quaint and quirky little town of Haines. This is a day all our guests have been looking forward to. This is a day of adventure! From flightseeing over the Meade Glacier to riverboat floating down the Chilkoot River. From hiking Moose Meadows and the tundra into Canada to cycling around the lovely town of Haines. As the activities ended, a few of our guests explored Haines on foot, visiting their famous local brewery and distillery. All agreed that the brewery was one of the best in Alaska. What an action-packed day we had! Smiles were upon every guest’s face as we made our way back to National Geographic Sea Lion.
Written and photographed by Lauren Cochenour, Naturalist, and Kimberly Wood, Zodiac captain, unless otherwise noted.
Lauren thrives on exploration, international travel and storytelling. Enthralled with nature since childhood spent both in the Pacific Northwest and coastal Maine, she holds rocky, wild coastlines and extreme mountainous environments very dear to her...
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Today, National Geographic Sea Bird anchored outside the small town of Haines, Alaska for a full day of activities. Guests chose from a wide selection of options, ranging from flightseeing tours over the Chilkat Mountains and into Glacier Bay National Park, to bike rides, to river floats.
This morning we pulled into Williams Cove, just outside of the opening to Tracy Arm. National Geographic Sea Bird was surrounded by icebergs, even twenty miles from their source of calving (birthing) at South Sawyer Glacier. Everyone on board had the opportunity to go kayaking and hike through the spruce and hemlock trees. Some hiking groups even encountered a brown bear on the beach before departing Williams Cove. During lunch, National Geographic Sea Bird traveled twenty miles up the thin fjord, into the U-shaped valley the glaciers carved over the last several thousand years. For the last 250 years or so, since the Industrial Revolution, the ice has been in retreat, which opened up valleys that seawater has now filled. This allows our vessel to travel through these areas in present time, toward the face of tidewater glaciers. Precipitation and cold temperatures are necessary ingredients for building glaciers, and both were present as we observed the face of South Sawyer by Zodiac. At around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which is actually warm for a glacier, many calving events occurred. One large chunk released from the face of the glacier, which seemed to trigger even more ice loss and calving. The sounds and resulting waves reverberated outward. It was quite an end to our voyage in Alaska.
The day began early with our destinations shrouded in mist and clouds. National Geographic Sea Bird was anchored in the harbor, and guests were shuttled through the fog to their various expeditions. Some headed off early for the tundra trek, which took guests up into Canada to explore true arctic tundra, a biome vastly different from the coastal temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska. They arrived to clear views of the snow-covered peaks on the horizon. Tundra wildflowers bloomed in profusion while birds called from the knee-high tundra vegetation. Those who opted for the Kluckwan village and Chilkat River float spent time learning about Tlingit traditions before hopping into oar boats for a float down a beautiful wide river valley lined with black cottonwoods. The Chilkat River is a great example of a braided river because it is so flat and interlaced with shallow rivulets that weave back and forth. Numerous bald eagles perched in cottonwoods and waiting for salmon were a highlight for most guests. The coastal hike took guests out to Battery Point through Sitka spruce forests, along rocky beaches, and into boreal meadows where crowberries, blueberries, salmonberries, and deadly baneberries ripened in the warmth and long days of mid-July. Those who tackled Mount Riley hiked through the low-hanging clouds from the temperate rainforest up to the sub-alpine. Fly fishing allowed guests to immerse themselves in the cold, glacier-fed water of the Chilkoot River while catching the whimsically named Dolly Varden, a colorful type of char. Many guests followed a morning of fly fishing with a bike ride down the coast. As the morning clouds cleared, flight seers took to the air in a classic De Haviland Beaver for a flight up to Glacier Bay National Park. The mountains were awe-inspiring, especially as mist was still clinging to many of the peaks. Being able to see glaciers from the air whetted everyone’s appetite for our upcoming trip to the South Sawyer Glacier. Some spied moose, black and brown bears, and mountain goats as the pilot directed the plane along the high alpine meadows. Back in Haines, some guests explored the Hammer Museum with its largest collection of hammers in the world. As we feasted on locally caught Dungeness crab back on board, we were treated to a gorgeous double rainbow as we sailed south towards Tracy Arm and the South Sawyer Glacier.
