Glacier Bay National Park
What an Alaskan day. Low clouds, with occasional small patches of blue. One fjord was choked with brash ice coming down slowly with the ebbing tide, stymieing us only briefly before we decided to change plans. The enormous freedom we have on board to change plans at whim, desire or necessity is something I revel in. We took off up Tarr Inlet earlier than planned, which allowed us more time everywhere else throughout the day. As a consequence we cruised slowly along the shorelines of various bays, islands and inlets in search of wonderful things (which were all around us). The air here is fresh, cold and clear (when not raining). One of the new visits for me today was entering among the islets of Sandy Cove. It was high tide, and we crept in slowly between the islets, misty, damp. Around the bend on our starboard side, walking along the grassy bank, a dark shape emerged as a black bear, the first we had seen this trip (though we have been fortunate with brown bear sightings, as you know if you’ve been following this Web site). With it’s head mostly below the tops of the grass line, we saw it only as a dark mass moving slowly, but then he looked up, chewing. We quietly moved on as he did the same. Another black mass appeared, and as quietly, passed by.
Within a half-hour we were watching another world. The Steller sea lions were rowdy on the rocks. They pushed and shoved for space temporarily washed by high tide. Others higher up (in status?) slept like the rocks they resembled. Their vocalizations ranged the gamut from roars to burp-like sounds. I took the photo because the snow-sided slopes of tall mountains was so very terrestrial, yet the foreground of fur-bearing aquatic characters was irresistible.
A stupendous day.
What an Alaskan day. Low clouds, with occasional small patches of blue. One fjord was choked with brash ice coming down slowly with the ebbing tide, stymieing us only briefly before we decided to change plans. The enormous freedom we have on board to change plans at whim, desire or necessity is something I revel in. We took off up Tarr Inlet earlier than planned, which allowed us more time everywhere else throughout the day. As a consequence we cruised slowly along the shorelines of various bays, islands and inlets in search of wonderful things (which were all around us). The air here is fresh, cold and clear (when not raining). One of the new visits for me today was entering among the islets of Sandy Cove. It was high tide, and we crept in slowly between the islets, misty, damp. Around the bend on our starboard side, walking along the grassy bank, a dark shape emerged as a black bear, the first we had seen this trip (though we have been fortunate with brown bear sightings, as you know if you’ve been following this Web site). With it’s head mostly below the tops of the grass line, we saw it only as a dark mass moving slowly, but then he looked up, chewing. We quietly moved on as he did the same. Another black mass appeared, and as quietly, passed by.
Within a half-hour we were watching another world. The Steller sea lions were rowdy on the rocks. They pushed and shoved for space temporarily washed by high tide. Others higher up (in status?) slept like the rocks they resembled. Their vocalizations ranged the gamut from roars to burp-like sounds. I took the photo because the snow-sided slopes of tall mountains was so very terrestrial, yet the foreground of fur-bearing aquatic characters was irresistible.
A stupendous day.
