We awoke to a serene, foggy morning at our safe and secluded anchorage outside Sitka. We cruised through the Sergius Narrows and Peril Strait, enjoying the scenery and looking for wildlife along the way. Following our morning staff introductions, kayak and Zodiac briefings, and the smartphone presentation by our certified photo instructor, we spent the afternoon hiking on Baranof Island near Lake Eva. Our hikes meandered through old growth temperate rainforest, following the stream that cascades down from Lake Eva to the bay. The stream was full of pink salmon making their journey upstream to the lake for spawning. The dwarf dogwoods were full of bunchberries along the trail, and the trees were majestic and full of mosses and lichens. On our return hike, we encountered a brown bear fishing for salmon in the lagoon. While loading the Zodiacs to head back to the ship, we saw the bear again, this time with her two cubs!
7/14/2024
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National Geographic Venture
Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness
We started the day with Zodiac tours of South Sawyer Glacier, a tidewater glacier. The air was cool, and it rained throughout the day, but that made the waterfalls gush. The walls of the Tracy Arm were dark yet glistening, and blue icebergs recently calved from South Sawyer Glacier stood out. The sea water stood in contrast against the ice. The brown of the land flushing into the sea swirled with a rusty hue that turned out to be a zooplankton bloom. The misty afternoon was spent kayaking from the base of one of the waterfalls with icebergs in various forms carried by nearby currents. It all made for a fantastic backdrop with swallows swooping close to the output of the falls, arctic terns darting and calling above, harbor seals cautiously following along, and pigeon guillemots surfacing with a whole silvery fish in their bills. After such a fantastic day, we finished up by viewing numerous waterfalls cascading down the steep fjord walls and a look at Sawyer Glacier misted in fingerlike clouds. What a beautiful sight.