After running all night around the northern tip of Admiralty Island and down Stephens Passage, we “crossed the bar” at Holcomb Bay at 5 a.m. in order to reach our destination at the South Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm-Ford’s Terror Wilderness Area in Southeast Alaska. “The Bar” is a term for the terminal moraine where the bottom of Stephens Passage rises from the depths to around 40 feet and indicates where the Sawyer and South Sawyer Glaciers once formed a magnificent face of ice. We cruised throughout the morning, stopping briefly at the place where the face of Sawyer Glacier now resides, and then moved closer to the South Sawyer Glacier where we disembarked on our expedition landing craft to view waterfalls, icebergs, harbor seals, and glacial calving.
7/18/2024
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National Geographic Quest
Freshwater Bay, Chichagof Island
This morning before breakfast, the bridge team of National Geographic Quest spotted orcas in Freshwater Bay. Eager to see this iconic whale species, the bow was quickly occupied by excited guests, staff, and crew. We could not have asked for better conditions. A sunny, calm morning with at least a dozen orcas! Wow! After breakfast we went ashore at Kennel Creek on Chichagof Island and split into aerobic, moderate, and casual walking groups. After yesterday’s wet forest at Fox Creek, we welcomed the firm, dry ground of an old logging road. Along our walks there were abundant signs of brown bears. One of the two aerobic walks had fresh bear tracks on top of their footprints upon their return. In the afternoon cruising down Chatham Strait, we enjoyed time on deck soaking up the sun when an eagle-eye naturalist spotted a group of humpbacks ten miles away! As we approached, we could see that this was no small group, as twenty-three whales were bubble net feeding! This day will long be imprinted in our memories of wild Alaska.
