We awoke deep within Tracy Arm, a winding notch cut into the Coast Range. All waterways in Alaska are fjords, but Tracy Arm is particularly intense. Cutting into granite, glaciers do their finest work. No doubt John Muir, seeking to understand how his beloved Yosemite Valley was formed, found a clear analogy in Tracy Arm. The water around us was a deep jade, and bergs appeared. And at last we saw the South Sawyer Glacier.
Hopping into rubber boats, we got closer to the glacier. We passed extraordinary icebergs. Some were huge, and of an astonishing color, like monumental sapphire. Others were diminutive and delicately sculpted, reminding us of swans or plesiosaurs.
The steep terrain near the glacier is good habitat for mountain goats; we found a few leisurely ambling over formidable mountainsides. Meanwhile, the fjord was packed with seals. When birthing their pups or growing new hair coats, seals like to leave the water, and what could be a better resting spot than a cozy iceberg! The seals know that here they are safe from terrestrial predators, and that their chief foe, killer whales, rarely venture so close to the glacier. Though generally skittish when out of the water, these seals are used to boat traffic, so we were able to observe them without causing them undue stress.
The glacier itself was quite beautiful. Funny that glaciers differ so much from one another. Of those we have seen, South Sawyer is notebly blue. Perhaps fast flow and constrictions in the valley subject the ice to unusual pressure. Surprisingly, little is known about South Sawyer’s flow, because no one has bothered to study it. We know much about the nature of Southeast Alaska, but much remains to be discovered.
By afternoon we reached William’s Cove near the mouth of Tracy Arm. Forest here is quite mature so we went for a close look. Under a canopy of bristling spruce trees and lacey hemlocks, nature-lovers examined the intricacies of Alaska’s rain forest, while photographers looked for the best way to bring it back alive. Many grabbed a paddle to glide over the cove’s placid water. Sometimes Alaska’s finest moments occur when nothing happens. It’s just the land, the sea, and the silence.
