Endicott Arm
This morning the guests aboard National Geographic Sea Lion awoke amidst icebergs in the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness. As we emerged from our cabins, the surrounding landscape took our breath away as the sheer walls of the fjord and the tightness of Endicott Arm made us feel very small in a majestic landscape. As the Captain groveled through growlers, brash and bergy bits we made a slow approach to our drifting anchorage where we would set out on ice tours.
Departing the stern on our trusty rubber rides we turned our Zodiacs into mini icebreakers and carved a path to Dawes Glacier. The mile-wide glacier face grew larger and bluer and we felt smaller and smaller as the landscape wrapped its vast arms around us.
The morning was like a passage in time as we stepped back to our glacial past. The raw landscape surrounding the 200’ glacial face was such a contrast to the old growth forests that lay further down the 34-mile long fjord. To see the earth recently unburdened from hundreds of feet of ice we could only wonder if the earth was moving under our feet and rebounding from the weight that had been lifted. While pieces calved from the face, harbor seals and porpoises swam about icebergs and arctic terns rested on the growlers. Back on the boat, Wilderness Rangers shared the meaning and value of wilderness as some envied their office and commute.
After lunch we ventured back towards Holkham Bay and were rewarded with a great and scenic outing in the fjord of Ford’s Terror. Aptly named for the exciting tidal surge, we passed through a narrow entrance that opened into a majestic world of steep walls and waterfalls. What a special place to end an amazing week in Southeast, Alaska!!!
