Tracy Arm
Ice. Our day today was all about ice. From sunrise to sunset, we were in the realm of ice. Floating amongst it, watching it calve, cruising through the world it created, and of course, drinking it at cocktail hour; we enjoyed ice. Our day was spent in Tracy Arm, a deep fjord system carved by ice descending from the Stikine icefield via the South Sawyer glacier.
Sunrise on the nunataks of Tracy Arm was our wakeup vista, as the National Geographic Sea Bird meandered amongst the blue icebergs. We slowly approached the South Sawyer Glacier, and soon we took to our Zodiacs to approach even closer. For me, sitting in front of this glacier on a sunny morning, was one of the most beautiful places on the planet. With a foreground of ice sculptures in front of a blue glacier face rising over 200 feet, thousands of images were taken. Add to this sunshine on peaks reaching up to 5,000 feet, and you have the makings of paradise. Seals lined the ice floes and some seals even curiously investigated us, adding to the joy that was our morning. And, of course, our karma was great, so massive chunks of ice calved to thunderous applause.
Later, we kayaked amongst the ice, waterfalls, and scenery of Tracy Arm. We then sailed down-fjord, enjoying more massive blue bergs and some spectacular waterfalls. In the afternoon, we hiked in the forest that has grown up since the glacier retreated. And at sunset, we cruised out over the “bar,” or terminal moraine of the glacier, ending our journey in this world of ice.
