Gilbert Bay/Tracy Arm
The final day of our expedition was packed full of activity. In the morning we cruised into Port Snettisham - a fjord carved into the Southeast Alaskan mainland - and dropped a group of intrepid kayakers on a beach riddled with mink prints near the junction with Gilbert Bay. We looked forward to a unique and challenging excursion paddling in the sunshine. The Sea Lion then left, and continued into Gilbert Bay with the remaining guests and anchored at the end. It's an arguable 5.5 nautical miles from the kayak drop-off point to the anchorage. To the kayakers it felt like ten! At first we had a nice ride with the current.
When we rounded the corner, the incoming tide had met the outgoing tide and the real work began. We felt like salmon going upstream. It was non-stop paddling from then on to get to a take-out point where we could be picked up and returned to the Sea Lion. It was a tiring but rewarding adventure, with good views of bald eagles and swirling bands of scoters along the way.
The salmon are running in many parts of Alaska now. Bears love salmon. The guests who elected to hike at Sweetheart Falls were treated with a great display of a brown bear mother and her cub. They were fishing for salmon that were struggling upstream to complete their life cycle. Although still nursing on mother's milk, the cub, like most mammals, was learning well from its mentor, proudly catching and eating fish of its own. It is important for both of them to put on weight to get through the upcoming winter. People on a Zodiac tour also had great views of this exciting scene. It is always a thrill to see wild animals in their natural environment, doing what they need to do to survive and live to pass on their own genes.
After leaving Port Snettisham, the Sea Lion cruised a short way to the south, entering Holkham Bay and then aligning the ship with range markers and other navigational aids to cross the submerged terminal moraine into Tracy Arm. This classic narrow, twisting fjord leads to two receding tidewater glaciers - Sawyer and South Sawyer. It was getting cooler; but not wanting to miss anything, many people could not resist experiencing the grandeur of this magnificent wilderness from the outside decks. There was always something to see: mountain goats on distant patches of snow, narrow ribbons of water cascading from high above, harbor seals floating on icebergs, and colorful, ever-changing geology as we worked our way 25 miles to the face of South Sawyer Glacier. It was a lesson in plant succession, from forested terrain at the mouth of the fjord, to bare rock and gravel near the ice.
Growlers scraped the hull of the Sea Lion as we made a close approach to the towering wall of ice. The surrounding brash ice audibly sizzled and crackled as ancient compressed air escaped years of imprisonment under tons of pressure from above. Dinner was delayed so that we could watch for calvings in front of the strikingly blue South Sawyer Glacier. We were not disappointed. In giddy elation, we finally convened in the lounge to warm up.
Elizabeth made some gift presentations before dinner. The ship's senior officers, Neil, the natural history staff, the young people on board, and Scott all received Stanford mementos along with kind praise and applause for jobs well done.
But the day was not over. After a delicious Captain's Farewell Dinner there was entertainment in the lounge by various members of this well-bonded group. Poetry and songs reflected and reminisced the rhymes and rhythms of this memorable voyage in Southeast Alaska.
