Glacier Bay National Park
We were lucky enough to be able to pick up our ranger, Jennifer Schramm, at 10:00 pm so that we could sail all night and awake in the north part of the bay at daybreak. Guests that awoke early watched as we wound our way through the ice berg bits en route to the Johns Hopkins Glacier. We approached a jumbled wall of ice crammed into the head of the inlet. The best calving was just before 7 am, and it rolled the ship. Later, other smaller pieces tumbled and rumbled down the ragged face, making giant splashes.
On our way to Margerie Glacier, one of our sharp-eyed guests spotted a brown bear meandering along the beach. It stopped once and turned over a few intertidal rocks to pick up some delicacy, but it mostly just kept moving. Several times it looked in the direction of the low noise that rolled across the water from a large blue-and-white hulled object. Soon the bruin moved towards the alders and disappeared.
Margerie and the much larger Grand Pacific Glaciers were our next stop. A river gushed out from below the waterline of Margerie. The brown, muddy water splashed and leaped into the air like a giant vat of rapidly boiling water. Chunks and pieces fell from the glacier’s face. In the background was the dirty covering of the Grand Pacific Glacier. It stretched for well over a mile across the end of the bay. A light drizzle didn’t dampen our spirits, because the ceiling was high enough to see the surrounding mountain peaks.
A channel named Russell Cut passes between an island and the mainland. Wildlife often prowls its shoreline. Today a bear appeared out of the shrubs. Its new winter coat was growing in as dark patches. We watched it wander along the intertidal area then cross numerous glacial streams before continuing on its way.
Our lunch ended with an announcement that mountain goats were on a cliff nearby. A nanny with a kid grazed for a few minutes and then walked over to a cottonwood tree to browse. Goats have an easier time living in snow-covered terrain than mountain sheep, because they do well browsing. They may even eat seaweed and a few conifer needles. Sheep need to find places where wind has kept slopes free of snow for grazing. Although both may live in the same place, goats are the ones that survive better in coastal mountains with a deep snow cover.
We poked into inlets and stopped at South Marble Island to look at nesting birds including tufted puffins. Over 100 northern sea lions growled and shook their bared teeth at each other. The afternoon passed quickly, and we were soon finishing dinner and on our way to the lodge at Bartlett Cove. A small museum and a chance to walk were the activities most people took advantage of before returning to the ship.
We were lucky enough to be able to pick up our ranger, Jennifer Schramm, at 10:00 pm so that we could sail all night and awake in the north part of the bay at daybreak. Guests that awoke early watched as we wound our way through the ice berg bits en route to the Johns Hopkins Glacier. We approached a jumbled wall of ice crammed into the head of the inlet. The best calving was just before 7 am, and it rolled the ship. Later, other smaller pieces tumbled and rumbled down the ragged face, making giant splashes.
On our way to Margerie Glacier, one of our sharp-eyed guests spotted a brown bear meandering along the beach. It stopped once and turned over a few intertidal rocks to pick up some delicacy, but it mostly just kept moving. Several times it looked in the direction of the low noise that rolled across the water from a large blue-and-white hulled object. Soon the bruin moved towards the alders and disappeared.
Margerie and the much larger Grand Pacific Glaciers were our next stop. A river gushed out from below the waterline of Margerie. The brown, muddy water splashed and leaped into the air like a giant vat of rapidly boiling water. Chunks and pieces fell from the glacier’s face. In the background was the dirty covering of the Grand Pacific Glacier. It stretched for well over a mile across the end of the bay. A light drizzle didn’t dampen our spirits, because the ceiling was high enough to see the surrounding mountain peaks.
A channel named Russell Cut passes between an island and the mainland. Wildlife often prowls its shoreline. Today a bear appeared out of the shrubs. Its new winter coat was growing in as dark patches. We watched it wander along the intertidal area then cross numerous glacial streams before continuing on its way.
Our lunch ended with an announcement that mountain goats were on a cliff nearby. A nanny with a kid grazed for a few minutes and then walked over to a cottonwood tree to browse. Goats have an easier time living in snow-covered terrain than mountain sheep, because they do well browsing. They may even eat seaweed and a few conifer needles. Sheep need to find places where wind has kept slopes free of snow for grazing. Although both may live in the same place, goats are the ones that survive better in coastal mountains with a deep snow cover.
We poked into inlets and stopped at South Marble Island to look at nesting birds including tufted puffins. Over 100 northern sea lions growled and shook their bared teeth at each other. The afternoon passed quickly, and we were soon finishing dinner and on our way to the lodge at Bartlett Cove. A small museum and a chance to walk were the activities most people took advantage of before returning to the ship.
