Tracy Arm - Ford’s Terror Wilderness Area
Early morning the Sea Lion crossed over the bar of terminal moraine at Holkham Bay with low clouds and very little visibility. The clouds and mist created a beauty all of their own with an occasional iceberg floating by. After breakfast we pulled in the Ford’s Terror area and found serenity in the treed hillsides with ribbons of clouds clinging to them. Snowmelt cascading from the higher peaks formed breathtaking waterfalls and vague understanding of the terror that was written about in 1889 by Lt. Commander H.B. Mansfield, USN. He wrote “It is very narrow at one point. Floating ice from glaciers, with falling tide, jamming in this contracted throat make it a dangerous place.”
As we traveled down Endicott Arm the clouds lifted and even the sun was seen between the rising clouds. A beautiful healthy black bear was spotted along the shore taking advantage of the ocean's bounty with the low tide. Moving up the winding fjord, the vegetation begins to thin and almost disappear entirely on the glacier-scraped rocks as we reach the face of the magnificent Dawes Glacier. The guests were treated to several calvings before the huge face gave way to a large sheet of ice, creating a wave that bounced harbor seals from their comfortable icebergs.
The afternoon was an adventure among the ice in Zodiacs and kayaks. The Zodiacs skimmed the icy water exploring waterfalls, viewing enormous glacier sculpted rock walls in their return to the face of Dawes Glacier to witness the crashing and splashing of a calving glacier creating brilliant blue icebergs, accompanied by the roar of the “white thunder.” Moving slowly through the thicker areas of icebergs we heard the distant call of Harbor seals; moving slowly and quietly, an occasional close pass found our Zodiacs gliding by several families of seals. The kayakers paddled among the ice and found pleasure from the solitude and serenity of the undisturbed wilderness around them.
Early morning the Sea Lion crossed over the bar of terminal moraine at Holkham Bay with low clouds and very little visibility. The clouds and mist created a beauty all of their own with an occasional iceberg floating by. After breakfast we pulled in the Ford’s Terror area and found serenity in the treed hillsides with ribbons of clouds clinging to them. Snowmelt cascading from the higher peaks formed breathtaking waterfalls and vague understanding of the terror that was written about in 1889 by Lt. Commander H.B. Mansfield, USN. He wrote “It is very narrow at one point. Floating ice from glaciers, with falling tide, jamming in this contracted throat make it a dangerous place.”
As we traveled down Endicott Arm the clouds lifted and even the sun was seen between the rising clouds. A beautiful healthy black bear was spotted along the shore taking advantage of the ocean's bounty with the low tide. Moving up the winding fjord, the vegetation begins to thin and almost disappear entirely on the glacier-scraped rocks as we reach the face of the magnificent Dawes Glacier. The guests were treated to several calvings before the huge face gave way to a large sheet of ice, creating a wave that bounced harbor seals from their comfortable icebergs.
The afternoon was an adventure among the ice in Zodiacs and kayaks. The Zodiacs skimmed the icy water exploring waterfalls, viewing enormous glacier sculpted rock walls in their return to the face of Dawes Glacier to witness the crashing and splashing of a calving glacier creating brilliant blue icebergs, accompanied by the roar of the “white thunder.” Moving slowly through the thicker areas of icebergs we heard the distant call of Harbor seals; moving slowly and quietly, an occasional close pass found our Zodiacs gliding by several families of seals. The kayakers paddled among the ice and found pleasure from the solitude and serenity of the undisturbed wilderness around them.
