Glacier Bay National Park
Cloudy and calm graced our morning as we made our way into Glacier Bay National Park and the world of fiords and crystal bluffs, the order of the day. With steaming coffee mugs in hand on the bow, we were witness to mild calving activity at Johns Hopkins Glacier. Another group stretched on the aft deck beckoning the light with some sun salutations. Kevin Richards, a ranger from the park who hopped on board last evening, gave us an overview of the park after breakfast. Dall’s porpoises and puffins were the first wildlife spotted as we made our way to view Margerie Glacier. Late morning, a brown bear was spotted feeding on some “maverick” salmon who had found their way to these more turbulent streams, and now provided lunch for him and a good show for us.
After a feeding frenzy of our own on ice-cream sundaes, we made our way towards Gloomy Knob. Long-haired mountain goats grazed on an impossibly steep dolomite marble cliff and then more were along the silhouette of the Alaskan sky. Mid-afternoon, the sun streamed through and warmed us up during an extended yoga class. Shortly after starting, the class was interrupted by a sighting of a wolf close to shore. The wolf proceeded to show us its own version of stretching, then resting pose on the shore!
We hit the lottery on goats as Berit exclaimed over the intercom, sighting a herd up high and near the entrance of Tidal Inlet, drawing many of us back to the bow. Soon after, a sow and two cubs sauntered along the shore while flocks of surf scoters were in abundance around the Sea Bird.
A talk on marine mammals of Southeast Alaska complemented the abundance of our sightings this week. Shortly after dinner, exercise hikes and interpretive walks rounded out our day at the Glacier Bay visitor center. Silver gray clouds interspersed with light reflected on calm waters as our day faded, but not the memories of all the special sightings and scenery in this vast and wild region.
Cloudy and calm graced our morning as we made our way into Glacier Bay National Park and the world of fiords and crystal bluffs, the order of the day. With steaming coffee mugs in hand on the bow, we were witness to mild calving activity at Johns Hopkins Glacier. Another group stretched on the aft deck beckoning the light with some sun salutations. Kevin Richards, a ranger from the park who hopped on board last evening, gave us an overview of the park after breakfast. Dall’s porpoises and puffins were the first wildlife spotted as we made our way to view Margerie Glacier. Late morning, a brown bear was spotted feeding on some “maverick” salmon who had found their way to these more turbulent streams, and now provided lunch for him and a good show for us.
After a feeding frenzy of our own on ice-cream sundaes, we made our way towards Gloomy Knob. Long-haired mountain goats grazed on an impossibly steep dolomite marble cliff and then more were along the silhouette of the Alaskan sky. Mid-afternoon, the sun streamed through and warmed us up during an extended yoga class. Shortly after starting, the class was interrupted by a sighting of a wolf close to shore. The wolf proceeded to show us its own version of stretching, then resting pose on the shore!
We hit the lottery on goats as Berit exclaimed over the intercom, sighting a herd up high and near the entrance of Tidal Inlet, drawing many of us back to the bow. Soon after, a sow and two cubs sauntered along the shore while flocks of surf scoters were in abundance around the Sea Bird.
A talk on marine mammals of Southeast Alaska complemented the abundance of our sightings this week. Shortly after dinner, exercise hikes and interpretive walks rounded out our day at the Glacier Bay visitor center. Silver gray clouds interspersed with light reflected on calm waters as our day faded, but not the memories of all the special sightings and scenery in this vast and wild region.
