Life List:
Wild Alaska by boat
Clouds cling to a glacier-carved valley in Tracy Arm, Alaska.
Fiords, Glaciers and Icebergs
Our first destination is Tracy Arm, which ends in Sawyer Glacier. It’s our second day out of Juneau, rainy and quite a bit colder than it’s been so far, probably in the high 40s. Truthfully, it feels pretty raw and I’m wishing I had a spring ski hat and spring gloves with me. I’d considered packing them, but decided not to after looking at Alaska travel sites that said we wouldn’t need them this time of year.
Massive granite mountains reach straight up out of the water to catch the clouds with their craggy peaks. The mountains are lush and laced with waterfalls large and small plunging their way down to the ocean. I do not know what color I expected the water here to be, but the deep shade of aquamarine is a pleasant surprise. It creates a spectacular contrast with the bobbing icebergs and the granite and evergreens framing its edges.
Some icebergs are sturdy and thick, others are so delicate you can see the ice crystals that form them.
The icebergs. How do you describe them? They vary in color from opaque white to transparent electric blue. Some are a couple feet long, many are as big as a cruise ship, most are almost as big as our boat. All are deceiving in size because what you see is only about a third of what is below the waterline. Some are sturdy and thick, others are so delicate you can see the ice crystals that form them. Each one looks like a sculpture. It reminds me of looking at the clouds and imagining them morph into dragons, alligators, seals, sea birds and even boats.
To bring us back to reality, Vic gives Scott a mission. We need ice for the coolers, so he hands Scott a fishing net and tells him to start hauling in the bergy bits—Alaskan for baby icebergs! It’s a real hoot watching him trying to snag the ice. Thank goodness he’s not trying to net food for meals! I take a few photos for prosperity’s sake.
As you can imagine, we’re all having a field day with the photo opportunities. Every which way you turn, there’s something worth preserving for reminders of this remarkable trip. It’s so difficult to describe Alaska, it feels as if words will only cheapen the experience, but I will make every attempt to share the wonder of our adventure. I confess to Scott that there is good reason for the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” He has the easy part of the job chronicling this journey.
It’s gotten colder—no surprise since we’re in water that is fed by glaciers and bouncing icebergs.
Shortly after that, we start to come into more icebergs, thicker and bigger. Clearly all the rain has sent the glaciers to calving. It starts to get pretty hairy and nerve-wracking, so we decide to turn around: No sense in sinking our boat for the sake of seeing a glacier. As we make our way out, we chow down a hot lunch of pork tenderloin and noodles. It’s gotten colder—no surprise since we’re in water that is fed by glaciers and bobbing icebergs—and the hot meal hits the spot, sending warmth back to my fingers and toes.
On the way back, we see a group of kayakers headed towards the mouth of the arm. After snapping photos of them in their brightly colored boats framed by a dramatic backdrop of mountains and waterfalls, we chat with them and find out they made it as far as the island where the arm splits. They spent the night, but couldn’t go any farther because the bergs were so thick and dangerous, fears of capsizing became a legitimate concern. We’re relieved that we didn’t try to go any farther. Our original plan was to return to where we spent the night, but the weather clears up by the time we reach the cove, and we decide to wander on.
First Day | Fiords, Glaciers and Icebergs | Secluded Coves
Steller Sea Lions | Bears, Bears and More Bears
Fishing Villages and Hot Springs | Harbor Seals
Rainforests, High-Alpine Lakes and Beaches
A Whale of a Tale | Epilogue | Your Turn: Charter a Yacht
Alaska Photo Galleries