Our first full day aboard the Sea Lion gave us an inkling and introduction to the special beauty that is to be found in Southeast Alaska. Pictures and words alone cannot capture the full feeling of being here in person and sensing - with all one's faculties - the wonders of its immensity and grandeur.
Early this morning we "crossed the bar" and entered the narrow confines of Tracy Arm. The steep-walled fjord, which winds its way into mainland North America for over 20 miles, impressed our senses in countless ways throughout the entire day. A sampling of impressions would have to include: rushing tide rips and whirlpools, gigantic green mountains narrowing down to towering vertical granitic walls, turquoise colored water ever-changing in intensity, rain and sun upon our faces, countless cascading waterfalls, floating sculpted ice, and geologic hints to the enormity and transformational power of the Great Ice Age which once covered and sculpted this entire region.
At the head of the fjord we encountered two tidewater glaciers and a new sense of scale. Without familiar references, the size, height and distance to the massive icy face of the South Sawyer Glacier was hard to comprehend. The sounds of billions of tons of ice slowly sliding seawards - the internal cracks and booms of stress relief - combined with the "white thunder" and spectacular splashes of calving ice highlighted the visual immensity of this river of ice.
Throughout the day sightings of harbor seals and porpoises, sea and shore birds, and mountain goats added a living quality to the day. Lastly, the afternoons shore hikes and kayak tours placed us in direct contact with this wild environment where we could touch, taste and sample Alaska as only a guest in this "Great Land" can do.
Early this morning we "crossed the bar" and entered the narrow confines of Tracy Arm. The steep-walled fjord, which winds its way into mainland North America for over 20 miles, impressed our senses in countless ways throughout the entire day. A sampling of impressions would have to include: rushing tide rips and whirlpools, gigantic green mountains narrowing down to towering vertical granitic walls, turquoise colored water ever-changing in intensity, rain and sun upon our faces, countless cascading waterfalls, floating sculpted ice, and geologic hints to the enormity and transformational power of the Great Ice Age which once covered and sculpted this entire region.
At the head of the fjord we encountered two tidewater glaciers and a new sense of scale. Without familiar references, the size, height and distance to the massive icy face of the South Sawyer Glacier was hard to comprehend. The sounds of billions of tons of ice slowly sliding seawards - the internal cracks and booms of stress relief - combined with the "white thunder" and spectacular splashes of calving ice highlighted the visual immensity of this river of ice.
Throughout the day sightings of harbor seals and porpoises, sea and shore birds, and mountain goats added a living quality to the day. Lastly, the afternoons shore hikes and kayak tours placed us in direct contact with this wild environment where we could touch, taste and sample Alaska as only a guest in this "Great Land" can do.
