After days of sunshine, we finally awoke to a textbook Southeast Alaskan morning with a thick fog hugging the tops of the surrounding mountains. As it turned out, this was exactly to our advantage, for we were heading into LeConte Bay, and as any of our Naturalists will tell you, glacial ice is all the more spectacular viewed under a cloudy sky. The reason for this is the other-worldly blue hue that pervades the dense and ancient glacial ice. A bright sun obscures what a cloudy sky reveals, and as we headed in to explore with our expedition landing craft, all our guests found this to be true.
Among the giant icebergs, discarded from the glacier terminus miles away, we journeyed through the minefield of ice, cameras at the ready. Wildlife was there for the keen eye ready to see it. Harbor seals popped their heads up for a better view of who was entering their domain, while Sitka Black-tailed deer and martens scurried on the shore. The stars of the show, though, were the icebergs themselves, looming in apparent stasis, but a closer look quickly revealed that they were involved in constant, dynamic change. Some guests were even treated to a large iceberg breaking in half, causing a small wave and heavy submarine portions to break off and bob – a thrilling and irreplaceable experience. As if that were not enough, bald eagles chose to visit, perching majestically atop the icebergs for many a perfect photo opportunity.
After lunch, we came into the fishing town of Petersburg, where the town was a bustle of activity both in celebration of the bounty of sunshine and the upcoming start to the fishing seasons. Guests walked the docks learning of the different styles of fishing that brought in the bounteous catch, while others went deep into the muskeg bog to discover the soggy wonders that waited. Rare and unique plants were found, including the insectivorous Sun Dew which collects the myriad of Alaska’s insect to gather the nutrients that the saturated soil simply doesn’t provide. The day culminated with a crab feast, a spectacle of cracking shelf and lively conversation, and most of all a celebration of another wondrous day adventuring around Alaska’s wilderness.
