With my alarm set for 5:30 a.m. this morning, I woke to one of the more beautiful sunrises I’ve ever seen. No time for a shower, I grabbed my camera and headed on deck.
The sunrise was still unfolding and getting better with each passing minute. At the same time, whale blows were happening at 9 o’clock at my left. I was busy going back & forth, not wanting to miss a thing. Once things calmed down, I headed back to our cabin and showered.
Once back on deck, and still waiting for Carol to get ready (there was no rush, as today was a day of sailing and whale watching), we approached a small pine covered island with a rocky out cove. Sunning on the rocks were several male stellar sea lions. Our naturalist Jeff explained that these sea lions were likely too old to compete for females and were outcasts. The captain kept the ship here, within 50-75 yards, for almost a half hour, watching the sea lions and listening to their barks.
Carol had joined me as we left the sea lion show, and we headed to breakfast. After a nice breakfast, we headed back on deck and were greeted to several pods of humpback whales. Frederick Sound is known for its whale population and we were not to be denied. Lots of whale tales and yet, the breach was still elusive. Darn.
By mid-morning, the captain announced that we were leaving Frederick Sound to make our way to Tracy Arm. At the time (meaning, this all works out … keep reading), I was a bit miffed. Here were the whales and we were leaving. I didn’t understand. However, by the end of the day, it was well worth it.
One of the reasons I was initially miffed was that Tracy Arm, and its climatic Sawyer Glacier, were usually locked in by ice flow, making it difficult to impossible to reach, if even see the glacier. Ergo my disappointment in leaving a sure thing.
As we approached the fjord of Tracy Arm, Jeff, the naturalist pointed out an area we were about to pass, were the glacier had once reached. Instead of some invisible marker that we would have to imagine, sediment and silt from the glacier had collected underneath, raising the sea floor, and causing icebergs to get stuck, almost in a line. So it was very easy to see where the glacier had once extended.
As we started up Tracy Arm, lunch was being served, this time, up on the Sun Deck. We were told that this was the first time all season that they had been able to set up for the outdoor BBQ lunch.The weather was amazing; sunny and fairly warm. We went up to the Sun Deck just before lunch was served. When they announced that lunch was being served, they prompted guests from select decks to come to lunch. Unfortunately, word had spread and it appeared everyone was there already. The line wrapped around the entire deck area, but the wait was oh, so worth it. We dined on cole slaw, potato salad, hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ ribs, char-grilled salmon, corn on the cob, baked beans, and a berry crisp for dessert. Wow! Fantastic.
After lunch, everyone headed to the bow of the ship, both on the main and promenade decks. The ice flow was getting thicker, with no sight of the glacier’s face. Tracy Arm is not a straight shot. It zigzags for 30 miles, revealing an ever changing landscape as we progress. As explained by the naturalist, when we first entered Tracy Arm, we would see quite a bit of trees and shrubbery. However, as we crept up Tracy Arm, the plant growth with thin to only rock. This is directly related to the recession of the glacier; the more recent recession activity, the less plant growth.
Now, the ice flow was so thick, we just knew that the captain was going to stop and turn around. In a past cruise, our mega-liner turned around as we saw a small ship much further in, sitting, enjoying the view. However, though slower, the ship kept on. Anticipation was building as to how far we would go before turning around. Carol doubted that we would continue. You could hear the “boings” and “bonks” of the small icebergs hitting the hull. I made a crack about the Titanic, which was met with a mix of concern and laughter.
Unbelievably, as we past another turn, we saw, in the distance, Sawyer Glacier. Even at this distance, it was majestic, a wall of ice rising hundreds of feet, slanted to the sky. It was very jagged, white with blue highlights. Everyone started shooting with their cameras, thinking this was it, the climax, the pinnacle, as close as we would get. And the ship kept creeping forward. We spent the next 30-60 minutes creeping forward until finally, the captain said that was it. However, we were all amazed and impressed. Still almost a mile away, however, we were seeing Sawyer Glacier as close as any ship could. We say there for some time to take it all in. While gazing at the glacier, a few people pointed out a small ship, a schooner, which was about a quarter mile closer, heading back towards us. The ice was so thick, we couldn’t understand, with the schooner’s thinner, fiberglass hull, how or why anyone would navigate their vessel into such dangerous conditions. We all waved at the woman, the sole person apparently onboard the schooner, as it passed. Everyone on board applauded the captain for his efforts to get us as up-close and personal, as he could, without risking anyone’s health. Nikki, the naturalist, noted that this was the first time this season that they had actually seen the face of the glacier. Between the weather, the BBQ lunch, and the glacier experience, we all felt quite blessed.
But wait, the fun wasn’t over yet…
Nikki, the naturalist, announced that they would be taking a group picture, with the glacier in the picture. As the ship proceeded to turn around, and then head down Tracy Arm, we weren’t sure of the picture was called off or not. We later learned that the captain felt the the current location, with the heavy ice flow, was too dangerous to sent a zodiac out in the water. We were proceeding to less ice-choked waters. About an hour later, the zodiac headed out with two crew members and Nikki the naturalist onboard. We were told to arrange ourselves on either the main bow or promenade, on the left side, for the picture. We watched for 20 minutes as one crew member tried to harvest one of the “bergies” with a net, while Nikki tried to get a shot off while holding on for dear life (she was almost tossed one time), while the other crew member circled for position.
As we continued our trek out of Tracy Arm, we passed two waterfalls that we saw on our approach to Sawyer Glacier. In many of the promotional material for Cruise West, they show a ship getting really close to one of the waterfalls, close enough where you could take a shower. The captain turned the ship and maneuvered closer and closer to the waterfall. Once again, no mega-liner could ever provide this type of experience. The captain kept the bow of the ship within a few feet of the waterfall, as guests positioned for pictures. Some of us were battling little gnats, which started to infest the bow area. However, this was barely an irritant compared to the beauty of the waterfall. After about 20 minutes, the captain pushed away and headed toward another waterfall located across the fjord. This one, named for the “hole-in-the-wall,” or rock, was just as spectacular. And so were the gnats. The captain had really outdone himself today. And definitely erased my grudge about exiting Frederick Sound when we did.
During the daily wrap-up, the naturalists presented the ice bergie that was scooped up by our brave crew members. It was housed in a clear container. The contest was to guess when the ice bergie would completely melt. We all submitted our guesses, then freshened up for dinner.
For dinner, Carol had the Chicken & Mushroom Penne with a rosemary-infused broth. I had the Trout Almondine (call me a fishhead, go ahead). Carol passed on dessert while I enjoyed the Baileys Irish Creme cheesecake. As with past evenings, we were bushed, therefore passing on the evenings presentation.
