We made it to Alaska and the misty fjords didn’t live up to their name today. In fact, several of us have lovely new suntans and rosy glows.
After clearing customs in the morning, we entered the Behm Canal of Misty Fjords and sailed under clear, blue skies into Punchbowl Cove. Before we reached the destination of our day’s activities, naturalist and certified photo instructor, Eric Guth gave us an excellent introduction to glaciology which helped us deeply appreciate the sculpturally carved rock faces of the beautiful inlet. We learned that it isn’t the ice that does the deep carving action, but the rocks that are carried in the glacial ice that create the sweeping designs covering the sides of this deep fjord.
While sailing through the canal, several float planes soared overhead, taking advantage of the bright blue skies and giving our photographers a wonderful opportunity to capture images of the aircraft landing on the reflective, calm waters. A mountain goat was spotted high up on the granitic cliffs and we pulled out the spotting scope to get a good glimpse.
After lunch, we passed through the narrowest point on our journey, Owl Pass, and the photographers had the opportunity to get in the expedition landing crafts and travel in front of the National Geographic Sea Lion for shots of us passing through the gap.
The highlight of the day for many of us was the multiple bears sighted in Rudyerd Bay before and during our kayaking and expedition landing craft cruising rounds. Multiple bears crept out of the forest in different spots at different times of the afternoon, giving all of us a chance to get a good look at their majestic beauty. For me, however, the highlight of the day was kayaking along the sheer cliffs and running my fingers through the streams warm water running down the sunbaked rock face and then returning to the landing beach through streaks of tiny, fizzy bubbles streaming up from the bay floor.
Bears, mountain goats, sunshine, float planes, and fjords! What more could we ask for in our first day in Alaska.
