Tracy Arm
We awoke deep within Tracy Arm. All of Southeast Alaska, having been carved by glaciers, is steep, but here, granite and ice have made perhaps the finest topography of a grand region. As we made our way up the inlet, huge walls towered above us, topped by rounded peaks. Everywhere, glacial ice had smoothed the bedrock and carved huge parallel striations.
By breakfast we reached the end of Tracy Arm, where it splits to meet Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers. These glaciers calve actively, and, still in catastrophic retreat, regularly produce monstrous bergs. By Zodiac we went off for an intimate look at ice. Again, we were amazed by the variety of icebergs. Some were nearly black with sediment, others were snowy or a crystalline silver. But best were the blue bergs that varied from pale cerulean to deep brilliant sapphire. As icebergs melt, they change orientation, and so are sculpted into endlessly variable forms. Some called to mind sandbanks, others jagged peaks or ancient castles. Smaller bergs posed as swans or whales or crocodiles.
And at last we reached the Sawyer Glacier. This glacier is quite different from Margerie. It is smaller, in tighter confines, and is far bluer. All of us saw several impressive calvings that rocked our boats. Though these icefalls were large and impressive, the result was surprisingly few and small bergs – giving perspective to the rare but truly huge submarine calvings that produced the colossal bergs floating around us.
Later, many of us opted for even closer interaction with this grand place. In kayaks we paddled through the jade-green water. Numerous Nanooks, we threaded our kayaks amongst many icebergs.
The berg-dappled water around the ship was a lovely shade, and looked inviting – so inviting that many people, possessing far more courage than sense, decided to go for a swim. And the sea was 32 degrees! Judging by the speed at which swimmers emerged from their dip, the water was invigorating.
In the afternoon, we made our way back down the fjord, passing astonishing scenery. Frothy falls tumbled down many a steep rocky face, and we paused for a close look at a couple of them.
At the mouth of Tracy Arm we received the day’s last Alaskan gift. Humpback whales surfaced again and again just a few yards from the ship. Our tie to Hawaii and the darkened depths! It is an extraordinary experience to be near creatures so foreign and so familiar, so ponderous and so graceful.
Intimacy and grandeur, tightly meshed, made this day superlative even among the many we have shared in Southeast Alaska.
