Alaska - A Month Long Adventure - Trip Report About This Page:

[chezp]

Wow, what a lot of rain you had in Juneau! Now I feel better that it wasn't just us who copped the terrible weather. The shot of the eagle really sums up how much it was raining.

I loved the shots as you sailed away - stunning colours.

[rlb38]

Too bad the rain kept the whales away. How nice for the sun to come out for your departure. I love the bald eagle shot & the bow of the boat shot .

[Coop]

I had to laugh "I did not tilt for artistic effect"
Love all your pictures. So did you ship "Lou" home? The bear not the hubby.

[lauriep]

So funny that Lou picked out Lou the bear to purchase. That'll look wonderful in Maine! That rain was really coming down! Too bad your whale-watching experience was under-whelming, but I hope there's better to come. It's great that the cruise crew prints out a cheat-sheet of the passengers. Very useful on a small ship like that. Wouldn't you know the sun would start to come out as you left port!

[shazza]

Originally Posted by Cam22

So sorry about the rain and so few whales on your tour! Of course, the rain would clear out just as you left Juneau, but it allowed you to get some very neat sunset photos.

I was a little disappointed about the whale watching tour - just because I'd heard how great Harv & Marv tours are. But, it wasn't their fault - and we had 3 weeks ahead of us to hopefully see a few more whales.

Originally Posted by chezp

Wow, what a lot of rain you had in Juneau! Now I feel better that it wasn't just us who copped the terrible weather. The shot of the eagle really sums up how much it was raining.

I loved the shots as you sailed away - stunning colours.

Thanks, Cheryl - I expected rain in Alaska, and was just hoping this wouldn't be the norm for the entire month. The colors (colours ) get better as the trip goes on.

Originally Posted by rlb38

Too bad the rain kept the whales away. How nice for the sun to come out for your departure. I love the bald eagle shot & the bow of the boat shot .

Thanks, Roberta - yep, we were hoping the sun coming out as we left would be a good omen.

Originally Posted by Coop

I had to laugh "I did not tilt for artistic effect"
Love all your pictures. So did you ship "Lou" home? The bear not the hubby.

Yes, Coop - we shipped Lou/the bear home. Lou/the husband lasted until the end of the third week before I seriously considered shipping him home

Originally Posted by lauriep

So funny that Lou picked out Lou the bear to purchase. That'll look wonderful in Maine! That rain was really coming down! Too bad your whale-watching experience was under-whelming, but I hope there's better to come. It's great that the cruise crew prints out a cheat-sheet of the passengers. Very useful on a small ship like that. Wouldn't you know the sun would start to come out as you left port!

We are still laugihng about Lou being attracted to Lou/the bear. Like I mentioned earlier, I was okay with the rain in Juneau - as long as it didn't last forever.


I'll have another update in the morning, as I've spent much of the day sorting photos - trying to stay awake so I can sleep tonight. Check back for our journey to Tracy Arm.

[shazza]

I'll take a moment to recap the plan for this first week of cruising the Inside Passage. We were booked on the Un-Cruise Eastern Coves of the Inside Passage Tour, on the Wilderness Discoverer. The Wilderness Discoverer holds 76 passengers and about 20 crew. It's not a luxury boat, but we had good accommodations and the boat was comfortable (pictures will come as we go through the TR).


Un-Cruise specializes in small boat tours, skipping large city port stops, instead anchoring in remote areas. If the weather is good (and this may include rain), activities for the day include hiking, kayaking, and small boat tours.


The Eastern Coves Tour starts in Juneau, and travels south along the Inside Passage to Ketchikan. This map shows the rough itinerary for the week:

The itinerary is not set in stone, and may vary depending on weather, tides, and wildlife viewing possibilities.


Our First Full Day of Cruising - Part 1

The first destination today was Tracy Arm Fjord to see the Sawyer Glaciers. I knew that many ships don't make it all the way to the glaciers because of ice this early in the season. I was pleased to wake up early - about 5AM - and see us heading in the direction of what I assumed was a glacier:

It was cloudy and overcast, but no rain. It never gets really dark in Alaska at this time of year, but it was still pretty dreary outside, and I was beginning to think I might be doing mostly black and white photography:

As we turned through the last passageway, we saw a glacier in front of us. It was still early, so there had been no announcements as to exactly which glacier this was. Turns out, this is North Sawyer Glacier (the less impressive of the two, I believe it may also be referred to as simply "Sawyer" Glacier). I was happy we were at least going to see a glacier in Tracy Arm in mid-May.

It was time for breakfast, as we turned away from the glacier after getting to within about a mile of the face. Breakfast was delicious, and this was the start of my love affair with bacon on the Wilderness Discoverer.


We kept traveling until we saw another glacier - this is the famous South Sawyer Glacier:

There was a lot more ice in front of this one, but we kept going. Again, we were able to get within a mile or so of the face of South Sawyer Glacier.

The sun was peeking out of the clouds, and we had some nice views off the back and sides of the boat:

It was time to get the small boats off the back deck - the Discoverer carries four "skiffs." Two are Dibs - rubber zodiac-like boats, and two are larger but slower, with some back support.

By this time, more people were out on deck and we had a nice view of the glacier:

The first group is getting suited up to go out on the skiff. We had 3 different PFDs/life jackets for the cruise - these orange ones for skiff tours, the regular big orange ones for emergencies, and lightweight ones for kayaking.

There go the first group of intrepid explorers ...

A couple more views, as they make their way through the ice:

We set out for our skiff tour at 10AM. It was still sunny, but also cold out so close to all that ice. We saw the seals resting on the ice flows, where they come to have their pups out of harm's way from predators:

One curious harbor seal decides to check us out:

Our Skiff driver was Captain Danno - he was a very interesting guy, and had been the Captain of the Discoverer the previous year. He's moving on to take over as Captain of a new boat that will be doing Heritage Tours.

Our Expedition Guide was Laurie, one of 5 Guides on the trip with us:

Once out in the small boat, we could see just how much ice there was floating around. Our skiff drivers had to be careful not to get trapped, since the ice was continuously shifting. We also had to stay away from the larger bergs, since much of their volume is beneath the surface, and they can also roll at any time.

I was mesmerized by the shapes and colors of the ice. So much so, that I paid less attention to the glacier than I should have. Some of the beautiful sights we saw:

We heard a large thundering sound, and looked at the glacier in time to see a large chunk of ice fall. So that's what it's like to experience a calving glacier

We felt the roll caused by the falling ice, and started to pay closer attention to the glacier itself. I wasn't very good at capturing the calving in my photos, but you can see some residual ice flowing down the right side of the glacier in this photo:

I continued to be amazed at the fascinating shapes and color of the ice bergs (over 16 ft), bergy bits (3-16 ft tall), and growlers (less than 3ft high):

We even got a chance to sample the ice:

After one of the most fascinating hours I've ever spent, it was time to head back to the Wilderness Discoverer. We took the opportunity to circle around and check out the shoreline - lots of waterfalls in the area, as well as good views of the ship:

Next: Finishing up our First Full Cruising Day

[lauriep]

What a great day! This type of cruising is what I've always been more attracted to. I love the luxury and pampering of the larger ships, but would love to cruise on one that can get in closer to shore and move off to another spot more easily. When I was at the Tracy Arm glaciers last year we also saw and heard a calving, but I can't imagine what it must have been like to be in that small skiff and feeling the impact. Just being able to float around so close to the surface and all that ice. Absolutely wonderful photos. The ice that looks like pages in a book is incredible!

[rlb38]

Fantastic tour ! Love the photos are you adjusting the blue colours at all ? I think the one of the close up ice "chunk" looks like a frog ....maybe it's just me

[chezp]

Oh my goodness, what an amazing day - I absolutely adore the colours you captured on the glaciers and how cool to be able to see a glacier calve like that.

[Cam22]

Now this is how I want to experience Alaska, up close and personal. I think the colors of the ice are incredibly beautiful. I hadn't imagined so many different shades. for all the pics.

[shazza]

Originally Posted by lauriep

What a great day! This type of cruising is what I've always been more attracted to. I love the luxury and pampering of the larger ships, but would love to cruise on one that can get in closer to shore and move off to another spot more easily. When I was at the Tracy Arm glaciers last year we also saw and heard a calving, but I can't imagine what it must have been like to be in that small skiff and feeling the impact. Just being able to float around so close to the surface and all that ice. Absolutely wonderful photos. The ice that looks like pages in a book is incredible!

Thanks, Laurie. We will see more calving later in the trip as well. The advantages of the small ship definitely worked to our advantage when it came to getting into places and adjusting our schedule.

Originally Posted by rlb38

Fantastic tour ! Love the photos are you adjusting the blue colours at all ? I think the one of the close up ice "chunk" looks like a frog ....maybe it's just me

Agree - the clear ice piece did look like a frog to me. It was a smaller piece - probably about 3 feet across . I'm trying hard not to misrepresent the colors of the glacier, as my style can produce more vivid colors than some. The blue hues are affected by the density of the ice, as well as the light conditions at the time the photo is taken. I also noticed the blues tended to come out more vivid on some of the photos taken from the small boat - probably due to the way the shadows hit the ice from the lower vantage point. The varied blues are all relative to each other - that is, no selective color adjustments have been done..

Originally Posted by chezp

Oh my goodness, what an amazing day - I absolutely adore the colours you captured on the glaciers and how cool to be able to see a glacier calve like that.

We will see even more calving at some of the other glaciers we visit. There was more going on at Sawyer than I captured - I just couldn't stop looking at all the bergs.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Now this is how I want to experience Alaska, up close and personal. I think the colors of the ice are incredibly beautiful. I hadn't imagined so many different shades. for all the pics.

I think the varied shades of blue are one of the things that really made South Sawyer Glacier so beautiful on the morning we visited. Cruising in a smaller ship does have advantages, especially in a place like Alaska.

[rlb38]

Did I mention blue is my favourite colour ?? They are fantastic photos, mother nature has a great colour palette.

[JKnott17]

Your pictures are so beautiful! I love the colors in the ice, how lucky you were to see it up close and personal.

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry it was so wet in Juneau and you didn't see many whales on your tour! What amazing pictures of Tracy Arm Fjord! The still water just makes the pictures beautiful! Great start to your day!

[bsblady01]

looks like you guys are having a great trip so far