Day 5
This was a day at sea, but not just any day at sea – we toured Glacier Bay National Park, which is basically only accessible by boat. It was a day of scenery and wildlife. We went to bed the night before with visions of beautiful scenery since we watched the movie on the deck, Saving Mr Banks, accompanied by gorgeous mountains slipping by the deck in the gathering dusk. A bit chilly, but that’s what blankets are for.

A last view of Skagway

Saving Mr Banks in a beautiful theater

We entered the park before we were even out of bed (and we didn’t sleep in THAT late). For several hours we sailed up the fjord just watching the scenery go by. Finally we got to Margerie Glacier and sat just off of it for an hour or so watching her give birth to icebergs large and small (calve is the technical term).

Calving glacier

Everyone waits breathlessly, and then when one goes, there is an audible “aaawwww”. We all swing our cameras around, hoping to get an action shot.

Margerie Glacier emerging into the bay

There is also the constant gunshot sound of the ice cracking. Sometimes it presages a calving, but most often it signals that somewhere in that mass of ice it is preparing to calve. It can be quite loud and each one makes everyone hold their breath, waiting to see a chunk of ice plummet to the water.

Glacier debris

The water below the glacier and all around the ship is surrounded by many chunks of ice, mostly small but some larger, which are the result of previous calving. We also went and watched a second glacier for a while, but that one was not calving for us.

Mike checking the map to make sure we’re in the right place- the glacier in the background

We were amazingly fortunate to have sunny skies and calm winds for Glacier Bay. One of the crew told us that the previous three sailings, which is the season so far, had entailed heavy rains and cold winds in Glacier Bay. We had sunshine and while it was cold from the wind as we approached the bay, as we sat and watched the glacier it was downright balmy in the sunshine. The crew member had a huge grin and was also clearly enjoying the weather.

Face of the glacier

We also had several Park Rangers come on board as we entered the park and they provided a very good commentary. As a point of interest, some of the glaciers are receding but others are also advancing. As we sailed up the fjords there were many other glaciers visible as rivers of ice encroaching on the bay. Two hundred years ago, when John Muir visited the bay, the glaciers extended much farther into the bay. We were not paying enough attention to the commentary to figure out if the balance was recession or advancement.

Cruising in Glacier Bay

One thing we did learn, though, is that a major part of the equation is the interface with the sea, rather than the overall air temperature. It is mostly the water seeping up from below into the ice that causes the calving. So both water temperature and level could influence this. A complicated equation.

Later in the day, after Mike overdid it on reindeer chili, was wildlife viewing time. Tami had a wonderful time spotting this and that. We spotted lots and lots of sea lions (of course we could do that at the Ballard Locks), several humpback whales, a couple of sea otters, some galavanting porpoises, and one grizzly bear. Understand that most of these were not up close, sometimes several miles away, but we SAW them (sort of).

A chunk of glacier

For a while we were sitting next to a group of hunters (wearing camouflage) who were particularly adept at spotting the wildlife with their very high powered binoculars. By eavesdropping on them, we were able to spot a good deal more than we would have on our own. And while they were sometimes far away, the overall impression was one of amazing abundance.

That’s a whale spout on the right

At one point Tami was trying to find a supposed grizzly that one of the hunters claimed to see on the beach, but she was constantly distracted by groups of sea lions and porpoises in the foreground.
The sea lions were especially interesting because they would frequently swim by in groups of three or four and plunge through the water perfectly synchronized. We also saw several chomping happily away on fish they had just caught, ignoring the seagulls’ constant attempts to grab the fish away. The porpoises were beautiful as they leapt out of the water repeatedly. The humpbacks were mostly moving along close to the shore, but we could follow their progress by tracking their spouts, and occasionally see their tails rise out of the water. Many of us were lining the decks spotting all kinds of wildlife. Just after we spotted our first whale spouts and had been watching sea lions for quite a while, our favorite naturalist came on to announce that some sea lions had just been spotted on the starboard side (our side) of the ship. Our railmates were all better at spotting wildlife than he was.

Deckside wildlife

We spent hours on deck so we were quite exhausted by dinner time. We only had enough energy to hit the buffet line and then stumble to the comedian show, which was actually quite good. It was a fellow from Seattle but his line of jokes about cruising were spot on. After returning to our room we wallowed in a little more delicious Skagway chocolate before turning out the lights. On to Ketchikan!

A beautiful end to the day