There are few things that grip the human soul more than natural beauty in the raw. Today aboard National Geographic Sea Lion we experienced this to the fullest. Waking amidst the high glacier carved fjords, the guests could not help but gaze skyward in attempts to see the tops of the mountains that surrounded them. The grand scale of what nature can accomplish is often set at a distance, but today we experienced it at our very doorstep. The South Sawyer Glacier was set before us in majesty, riddling the water with icebergs both miniscule and gargantuan. Navigating with delicate maneuvers, we made our way deeper in toward the glaciers amidst the calls of Arctic terns and sightings of harbor seals.
Words fail to describe what the eye sees when confronting the deep, ancient blue that glacial ice provides. The realization sits heavy upon the individual that the ice not only sits in majesty before their eyes, but is the artist of all that surrounds them. Even the highest peaks were once subject to the glacier’s progress, carving the rounded tops that our cameras reach to see. Bobbing along with the ice, the guests sat with anticipation hoping to see a calving event, and with patience were often rewarded.
Retreating back through the thirty-plus-mile-long arm, the afternoon was spent sharing sights of waterfalls and bear sightings. Tucking into yet another scenic bay, the guests were able to hike, kayak, or venture off on a small boat excursion to continue to visit the scenery that the Tongass National Forest provides. Knowing that tomorrow ends our voyage, the guests were particularly nostalgic within such grand context. Such sights cannot be fully captured with a camera, or completely told within a summarizing story. It is only through the experiencing that these landscapes, this sustaining wilderness, can affect the individual in a lasting way that causes appreciation for nature in its truest state.
