Today is the first day of our weeklong exploration of Southeast Alaska, and it has been a beautiful beginning indeed. We started the morning at William’s Cove in the entrance of Tracy Arm. We explored the area in kayaks around the bay, and also by hiking along a bear trail inside the forest. While we didn’t get any close encounters with bears, we did find signs of them all along the beach where they had been digging up the roots of many plants.
After lunch, we made our way up the fjords of Tracy Arm admiring the beautiful vistas all the way. The steep glacially carved walls tower above, with mountain goats and even a bear in the distance. Meanwhile, we’ve lost count of the waterfalls raining down from the cliffs overhead.
We loaded up in our inflatable boats and made the final approach to the face of Sawyer Glacier. There we saw two harbor porpoises, and a curious harbor seal. We also played with 200-400 year old glacial ice that had calved from the massive blue face.
Now we’re heading back down the fjord and sailing towards the imminent sunset. As the alpenglow peaks disappear behind us, and the humpback whales blow ahead, their blows shine-hanging in the air like pink clouds.
“…People are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life. “
John Muir, Our Natural Parks
