Glacier Bay

Monday, May 23, 2016

We were up real early this morning so we could have breakfast and then stay glued to the announcements on our room TV from the naturalist aboard our ship while watching out our sliding glass door to the balcony.

We were traveling from the Alaskan Gulf into Glacier Bay for an all day adventure visiting four glaciers: Grand Pacific, Margerie, John Hopkins, and Lamplugh.  This sign board we saw at another time explains a bit about glaciers

Unfortunately we awoke to yet another day of fog and thus very grey skies and very limited viewing as far as seeing wild life since it was near the mouth to the fjord that would take us to the glaciers.  We could see the black shapes of land but little else for most of the morning.

But what a blessing to have a balcony room where we could enjoy a bit or reading, do the ship word and Suduko games of the day, catch up a bit on emails and Facebook on our computer, and still keep looking up and out to see what was passing by and always ready with camera at our elbows should something be spotted.  According to the naturalist the humpback whales do not seem to have arrived as they usually do and in fact not many were spotted in Hawaii this year which is where they come from after giving birth.  Scientists are busy trying to figure out why but it does mean our chances of seeing any are very limited.

The National Park Service is celebrating its centennial this year making it extra special to be in such a beautiful and remote national park – Glacier Bay – at this time.  The park is about 3.3 million square miles in size about the size of Connecticut. The skies lifted a bit in the later part of the morning so we could begin to see the beautiful turquoise waters, greenery on the sides of mountains and even some of the snow on the mountains. 

We attended a ranger led program in the morning where we were able to see some beautiful slides of the area including many of the colorful flowers as well as marine and animal life in the area.  We also learned that just 250 years ago this huge bay/fjord area was entirely made up of glacier.  It ran all the way out to the sea. 

Now it is a long journey in to the furthest one – Margerie -- by ship: 65 miles. The naturalist said he’d be taking a short break around 11:30 so we figured we run get a bite to eat.  Well so did everyone else.  I’ve never experienced a line to get into the buffet area before but indeed we had one today.  But we were able to finish and return to our room in time to pick up again on his talk though we did miss out on some of the facts he had been sharing we were back in time to get a bit of a view of the receding glacier, Grand Pacific.

But we were treated to a fantastic view of Margerie Glacer as the ship stopped in front of it on our side of the ship!!!!  And even turned off the engines so we could just absorb the cracking sounds and thunder as it broke along its path.  We went out on our balcony and just stood and stared.  It was beautiful!!!!!

It is about a mile across and moves at about 3 ½ miles a day which means we could see some calving and hear the echoing thunder.  What looked like small pieces falling in he indicated were sometimes as big as a large apartment house.  Hard to believe!!  And it would happen so quickly that catching it with the camera was nigh onto impossible. (note the white spot to the right in the water and little splash.)

This glacier has continued to grow as snow continues to fall on it and builds up the ice.  Using the zoom on the camera I could even get a picture showing the many levels of the ice as it moves down the mountain and flows into the bay.

There were lots of pieces of glacier floating on the water.  Some had interesting shapes and some were shaped such that you could see huge sections of it under water.  Some were quite dirty looking and others had beautiful shades of turquoise in them. 

Lots of gulls flew around in the area.  With the engines turned off  you could truly appreciate the sounds: thunder, ripples from pieces dropping in, and gulls screaming.

This picture helps you appreciate the height of the glacier face but also the amount of twists and turns as it flows down the mountains.

We then left that area, sailed back to the main bay area and went a bit further before turning into another arm of the fjord to see the John Hopkins glacier which is protected by the park service. 

Not even kayaks are allowed into that bay where harbor seals climb up on the icebergs to give birth to their young.  So we sat out at the opening where we could see not only the massive tidewater glacier that is quite healthy and continuing to grow though it moves about 13 feet a day. 

You could definitely see the way it flows down the mountain with varying heights the size of huge cliffs on the way down. 

At the intersection leading to the glacier were huge mounds of rock.  A mix of granite and shale from various parts of the world (not here)  You could see the fault line.  It is evidence of how massive the glaciers are and how they move rock great distances thus bringing these two types together.

Just a short distance down along the main waterway was the Lamplugh Glacier

that we passed after the ship turned around and headed back out toward the sea.  It too was massive but we did not make a stop by it – just sailed by.

We joined the Princess Pop Choir yesterday and a rehearsal was being held in the middle of the afternoon so we had to leave all the beauty and head to the Hearts and Mind Chapel (where weddings are held) for a practice.

Following that we were right back in our room enjoying the beauty we were sailing by as we headed back out to sea including waterfalls, snow topped mountains, and rocks of different colors.

Following dinner we headed to the evening show: Joe Yannetty, Comedian followed by a visit to the Explorer Lounge to enjoy the fun of Ye Olde Pub Night put on by the singers and dancers with the assistance of some of the rest of the entertainment staff.  Not only were we entertained but we did some sing along stuff like My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean with all of the hand movements and watched some silly game competition done by members of the audience. It was truly an entertaining hour!!!!!! But by the time it ended we were ready for bed!!!!