The wonders of Glacier Bay

Our third day on the cruise was going to be all sailing, but not in any waters: the waters of Glacier Bay National Park. Quite convenient: it is like taking a day cruise into an amazing park but you actually wake up already on board of your excursion boat. It does not get any easier than than!

Park rangers on board

As we passed the Visitor Center of the park early morning, a small boat was getting closer: it was approaching to disembark park rangers that would narrate today our trip into the bay. Our first stop would be the John Hopkins Glacier and it looked like the sunshine would welcome us there. As we were having breakfast on the upper deck, we were passing snow capped mountains where the first snow of the year had just dusted the tops a couple of weeks ago. Armed with our binoculars, we also tried to spot a few goats that the ranger had pointed out. As we made up our way up to the glacier through the inlet, we were surprise that such a big ship could navigate these waters so easily and get so close to the glacier. These waters are indeed very deep.

John Hopkins looked similar to tidewaters glaciers we had seen on a previous cruise but it is a sight you don't really get tired of and for Stan, this was the very first one. The sun was shimmering through the ice, making the deep blue color even more vibrant and the icy shinny. Also, what looked like pepper dust from a distance were actually sea lions resting on the ice. Now the uniqueness of the John Hopkins glacier is that it is one of the few ones not receding: it has been advancing since 1929. How come would you ask, what about global warming? This glacier was also affected by global warming and therefor receding as well like the others but at some point since it was more inland and less surrounded by water, it started melting at a slower pace than it was getting new snow, which explains the advancing since.

Observing the wildlife

We continued north, deeper into the park, passing some more beautiful mountains and peeks on both sides of the ship. Anywhere you looked, it was just rugged beauty. We approached our second tidewater glacier of the day, the Margerie Glacier. This time we decided to observe it from a different perspectives: the lower deck, where you can have a closer look and hear all the cracking noises that the ice is making and upper deck, where you get a broader view of the grandeur of the ice. We stayed a little while in the inlet, taking a few pictures and headed back towards the exit of the park. On the way out, we went through an area rich in wildlife, where we spotted a few Hunchback Whales, Seal Lions, Otters and Harbor Porpoises. Being well prepared this time with the binoculars that Stan brought on board for us, we were able to better enjoy it. As we crossed the exit line of the park, the rangers went back onto their little ship. It was great to have them with us the whole day, narrating the journey we had in the National Park.

Being now familiar with the ship and all the fun it had to offer, we finished the day going to the gym (yes, we decided that given the amount of food we eat here, it would not be bad to do some exercise) and to reward ourselves from this big effort, hang out in the outdoors heated whirlpool. Life is tough on the cruise ship. We finished our evening enjoying the delicious dinner before heading to the evening show. Tomorrow, we would be back on land and explore the little town of Skagway.