Glacier!

It is hard to find the words to describe the beauty and awesomeness of our beautiful planet. 

Our day started with sunrise around 3:30 AM. Yes, really.  The sun really does come up that early.  So almost every hour James would announce, “it is 4 o’clock”, “it is 5”, all the way through until 8, which is about the time we knew we’d be heading into Tracy Arm, the fjord that is home to the North and South Sawyer glaciers. 

The seas were so very calm today, it was stunning.  The sun was shining and sparkling off the water.  As we got closer to the glacier, we started to see small ice chunks floating that had broken off the glacier. Tracy Arm is known as little Yosemite, and some of the views were definitely reminiscent of our home state glacier valley.

All along the valley were relatively small waterfalls all the way down the cliffs.  In the distance, we could see the Southern Sawyer Glacier. We could see the valley and the glacier field from afar. Along the way we saw the spouts and tails of one or two small orcas. Then we got even closer to the glacier and the ice chunks were even bigger.  Little groups of harbor seal families were sunning themselves in these mini-icebergs.  We saw several little guys jump into the frigid channel as our ship approached.

The fjord is about 30 miles long, and almost 1000 feet deep and we cruised at a slow but steady pace.  Finally, the moment I’d been waiting for … the glacier.  It was huge!  The face was rough and had beautiful tones of blues and greys.  The sun was shining and reflecting off the snow above the glacial ice.  Our Captain Herriot executed a 360 degree turn so we could all get a great view!

After a beautiful sunny day, an afternoon sunning on the deck and a lovely evening watching whales during dinner, a storm moved in near the southeast and we have been treated to a lightning storm, though the seas around our ship are still relatively calm, with a wave height of only .3 feet…yes POINT THREE!  Very calm seas, we have been so lucky!

After a day of rest yesterday, Jim is feeling much better; though eating still has been a challenge, due to pain, which is really frustrating for him given the abundance and wide selection of food on board.  He’s been mostly enjoying watermelon, jello and ice cream.  Beer hurts but tequila seems to help.  As the day draws to a close, we are grateful that we could take this trip now and enjoy the beauty and majesty of the world we have been blessed to live in!