Clear skies and the crisp morning air welcomed us into Tracy
Arm. As we sailed deeper into the fjord, we took in the majestic sights of
towering mountains and hanging glaciers as ice floated by. After a brief and
beautiful stop at “hole in the wall,” an aptly named waterfall with a circular
indent in its rock face, we started to spot black bears. We interrupted our
morning program to all go out on the bow and look for the wildlife. Over the
next hour we saw three separate black bears feeding in the intertidal zone on
mussels and barnacles. One had a striking golden stripe down the center of its
body, another was a deep black. It was a great sighting, and lovely to start
the trip with great wildlife sightings.
After lunch, we set out onto Zodiacs to get close to the face
of South Sawyer Glacier. We zipped through the ice under sunny skies until the
full sight of the glacier was in view. From deep blue shooters rising from the
seafloor to cascades of ice booming as they fall into the ocean, this massive
and active glacier put on quite a show for us. Seals hauled out on ice slipped
into the water and curiously circled our Zodiac while we took in this amazing
environment.
On the trip back to National Geographic Venture, we
stopped for some up-close time with waterfalls and some distant looks at
mountain goats. The beauty of this place wasn’t lost on us, and it was a great
start to a wonderful week.
