Tracy Arm / Williams Cove
We awoke early this morning in one of the most beautiful settings in all of Southeast Alaska - Tracy Arm. A 20 mile long fjord carved by ancient glaciers provided access to our small ship. Surrounded by spectacular sheer walls hundreds of feet high, with dozens of waterfalls cascading from the cloud-drenched summits, we cruised further and further toward the end of the inlet.
As we continued on, we began to encounter more and more pieces of floating ice of various sizes. Eventually at the head of the fjord we were stopped by sheer walls of blue ice where the faces of the Sawyer Glaciers blocked our passage. In times past the glaciers had filled the fjord and now had retreated many miles to their present location. Tidewater glaciers occur where a glacier meets the sea and the warmer waters of the fjord cause the ice to slowly melt. As we waited some distance from the face of the glacier huge chunks of ice occasionally dropped off the ice wall with a loud roar and a great splashing of water and waves generated by the falling ice. After a short time the waves reached the ship and caused some rocking motion as the waves passed by.
The floating ice chunks provide perfect haulout places for large number of harbor seals which use the icebergs for places to bear their young and for resting during the times when they are not actively hunting for fish. We saw dozens of hauled out seals, and were able to approach several quite close to the ships bow. The young which were born earlier in the summer were now almost the same size as the adults. In the water we spotted a few small harbor porpoises, and on the surrounding cliffs mountain goats grazed on the steep hillsides.
Reluctantly we turned the ship around and headed back down the fjord toward our afternoons stop at Williams Cove. Along the way we stopped to inspect waterfalls and kept an eye out for other things of interest as we enjoyed the pleasant weather and remarkable scenery.
After lunch we went ashore at Williams Cove for some hiking and kayaking. Two black bears were spotted at either end of the beach where we planned our activities but upon our approach they ambled back into the forest and left us to our endeavors. We enjoyed some nice walks in the woods and kayaked on the quiet waters of the bay during the afternoon.
Back on board the Sea Lion we enjoyed an afternoon wine and chocolate tasting as we hoisted the anchor and headed south toward Petersburg.
We awoke early this morning in one of the most beautiful settings in all of Southeast Alaska - Tracy Arm. A 20 mile long fjord carved by ancient glaciers provided access to our small ship. Surrounded by spectacular sheer walls hundreds of feet high, with dozens of waterfalls cascading from the cloud-drenched summits, we cruised further and further toward the end of the inlet.
As we continued on, we began to encounter more and more pieces of floating ice of various sizes. Eventually at the head of the fjord we were stopped by sheer walls of blue ice where the faces of the Sawyer Glaciers blocked our passage. In times past the glaciers had filled the fjord and now had retreated many miles to their present location. Tidewater glaciers occur where a glacier meets the sea and the warmer waters of the fjord cause the ice to slowly melt. As we waited some distance from the face of the glacier huge chunks of ice occasionally dropped off the ice wall with a loud roar and a great splashing of water and waves generated by the falling ice. After a short time the waves reached the ship and caused some rocking motion as the waves passed by.
The floating ice chunks provide perfect haulout places for large number of harbor seals which use the icebergs for places to bear their young and for resting during the times when they are not actively hunting for fish. We saw dozens of hauled out seals, and were able to approach several quite close to the ships bow. The young which were born earlier in the summer were now almost the same size as the adults. In the water we spotted a few small harbor porpoises, and on the surrounding cliffs mountain goats grazed on the steep hillsides.
Reluctantly we turned the ship around and headed back down the fjord toward our afternoons stop at Williams Cove. Along the way we stopped to inspect waterfalls and kept an eye out for other things of interest as we enjoyed the pleasant weather and remarkable scenery.
After lunch we went ashore at Williams Cove for some hiking and kayaking. Two black bears were spotted at either end of the beach where we planned our activities but upon our approach they ambled back into the forest and left us to our endeavors. We enjoyed some nice walks in the woods and kayaked on the quiet waters of the bay during the afternoon.
Back on board the Sea Lion we enjoyed an afternoon wine and chocolate tasting as we hoisted the anchor and headed south toward Petersburg.
