Today was our first day on board! We left Juneau last night and this morning we woke up to a typical Alaskan day: overcast and sprinkling, low clouds ribboned throughout the forests that met the water’s edge. Our morning began with hikes, from casual to bushwhack. Our guests got their first chance to explore a temperate rainforest — and she was stunning! Williams Cove does not have a human-maintained trail system, so we used game trails — trails left by animals as they pass through their forest home. After lunch we headed deeper through Tracy Arm to South Sawyer Glacier. Each year she continues to recede, and a few returning guests remarked at what a dramatic loss of ice she has had since last they were with us. Aside from marveling at the glacier face today, we also marveled at the amount of rain we had… so much so that massive chocolate-milk-colored cascading waterfalls were bursting along the mountain sides next to the glacier face. As rocks fell into the water, loud booms echoed between the fjord walls. Naturalists on board that have been working in Alaska for over twenty years have never seen such a sight in Tracy Arm. We took Zodiacs to gaze upon large icebergs and sneak a bit closer to the face of South Sawyer. We observed Artic terns, a few gull species, and a species of phalarope. Soaked but happy, our guests returned to the ship to warm up. What an amazing GLACIER DAY!