Tracy Arm, Southeast Alaska
Yes, Alaska is everything you can expect of it. Including some of the most magnificent glaciers! And it is also the land of fjords. Fjord is a Norwegian word, which describes a usually deep, long valley with a rounded bottom, carved by an advancing glacier. In this case, Tracy Arm Fjord is considered one of the most beautiful of the United States. High walls convey a feeling of minuteness to a human traveling along it, and today wasn’t the exception. Moving shrouds of fog covered parts of the high walls and the even higher mountains with their horns and ice-fields. Numerous pieces of ice of all sizes, from fist-size to huge iceberg size, awed us with their blue color. And, as a result of the so numerous ice fields and snow masses up in the mountains, hundreds of ice-cold streams and small rivers flowed down from the icy heights. One of them, the Hole-in-the-Wall Waterfall was the most magnificent, and we were able to approach it. After a good while enjoying it, we left the mighty roar of the falling water, and headed back out of the fjord, after all morning watching the harbor seals at the front of South Sawyer Glacier, and some sea birds and mountain goats at Sawyer Glacier.
The afternoon was used to hike and kayak at Sandy Bay, South of Tracy Arm. This area is seldom visited, and we had to remake our trails, or use existing bear trails, much to our advantage. The highlight of the afternoon was a black bear, seen by the kayakers.
As we were leaving the area, immediately after dinner, we encountered a humpback whale, which showed us how to swim! Right in front of the ship it spy-hopped, as well as showed us its flukes repeatedly!
Yes, Alaska is everything you can expect of it. Including some of the most magnificent glaciers! And it is also the land of fjords. Fjord is a Norwegian word, which describes a usually deep, long valley with a rounded bottom, carved by an advancing glacier. In this case, Tracy Arm Fjord is considered one of the most beautiful of the United States. High walls convey a feeling of minuteness to a human traveling along it, and today wasn’t the exception. Moving shrouds of fog covered parts of the high walls and the even higher mountains with their horns and ice-fields. Numerous pieces of ice of all sizes, from fist-size to huge iceberg size, awed us with their blue color. And, as a result of the so numerous ice fields and snow masses up in the mountains, hundreds of ice-cold streams and small rivers flowed down from the icy heights. One of them, the Hole-in-the-Wall Waterfall was the most magnificent, and we were able to approach it. After a good while enjoying it, we left the mighty roar of the falling water, and headed back out of the fjord, after all morning watching the harbor seals at the front of South Sawyer Glacier, and some sea birds and mountain goats at Sawyer Glacier.
The afternoon was used to hike and kayak at Sandy Bay, South of Tracy Arm. This area is seldom visited, and we had to remake our trails, or use existing bear trails, much to our advantage. The highlight of the afternoon was a black bear, seen by the kayakers.
As we were leaving the area, immediately after dinner, we encountered a humpback whale, which showed us how to swim! Right in front of the ship it spy-hopped, as well as showed us its flukes repeatedly!
