Tracy Arm-Ford’s Terror Wilderness
Brilliant blue sky and azure ice floating in an aqua sea amazed our eyes as we drifted among the freshly calved icebergs at the head of Tracy Arm fjord this morning. With an 80 percent chance of rain predicted, we were delighted to put on our sunglasses and take to the boats. Our swift and sturdy Zodiacs brought us deep into packed brash ice and up close to icebergs larger than National Geographic Sea Bird. We photographed the curious harbor seals, the ice, and each other as we tried to take in the fantastic scenery surrounding us. Overhead, giant domes of sculpted granitic rock were punctuated with sharp horns; little peaks that once stuck out of the more than thousand-foot-thick ice that filled this valley. Tucked into cracks in the fjord walls were a few delicate wildflowers. Their windblown seeds caught by the damp mosses have produced bright magenta blooms of dwarf fireweed, red paintbrush, and white yarrow flowers brought a new significance to the idea of a “rock garden.”
After lunch captain Kay’s skilled boat handling brought us up close to Hole in the Wall Falls, sending water cascading down the deck! A bit later we landed in Williams Cove, near the mouth of the long fjord. Some adventurers tried out the kayaks and paddled across the inlet, while others joined photo or natural history walks. We moved easily through the deep green light of the temperate rain forest, enjoying the mossy understory and huge Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees. One decomposing snag was covered with beautiful bright orange chicken-of-the-woods fungi. Along the shore, attracted by some perched bald eagles, some of the walkers reached a creek with a small run of pink or humpback salmon making their way upstream. To our surprise, a brown bear strolled out of the forest and nimbly grabbed one of the fish! What a spectacular first day of our expedition…
