College Fjord

Posted on June 18, 2013June 18, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It’s the last day of cruising. We’re well on our way through the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound .

Glacier Bay to College Fjord 438 nautical miles 18.4 knots

College Fjord contains the largest collection of tidewater glaciers in the world each named after an east coast college or university.

College Fjord is beautiful. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.

It seemed that we’d finally left the rain and clouds behind. The sun was bright, reflecting off the white snow covered mountains.

Once you enter the Fjord you will pass Holyoke, Barnard, Wellesley, Vassar, Bryn Mawr and Smith Glaciers on the port side. Harvard is at the head of the fjord.

On the starboard side you’ll see Amherst, Lafayette and Yale.

This is truly what you think of when you think of Alaska.

Grand Pacific Glacier

Posted on June 17, 2013June 17, 2013 by Dusty Roads

There was a time, many years ago, when Glacier Bay wasn’t a bay. It was an ice field. The bay was completely covered by miles of ice. As the ice receded the bay was formed and at the head of the bay we now have the spectacular Margerie Glacier.

But right next to Margerie Glacier, barely noticed because of its spectacular cousin, is a remnant of that Ice field. The Grand Pacific Glacier lies at the very head of the bay to the right of Margerie as you approach. It looks like land. It looks like dirt. It’s a black line as it reaches the shoreline.

No pretty blue ice for this granddaddy of glaciers but if it weren’t for this dark and unassuming glacier, we wouldn’t have the Glacier Bay of today. Back in the 1600’s the Grand Pacific Glacier made a final surge, tightening its grip on the area. Before its last push was done the valley was filled with up to 4000 ft. of ice. Then it began its retreat leaving the characteristic U-shaped trench which gradually filled with water giving us the spectacular beauty we see today.

At this time the Grand Pacific Glacier continues to retreat . As it does it grows Glacier Bay a little each day. Prediction are that by 2025 the Bay may extend another 12 miles.

As we left Glacier Bay we headed into the open waters of Prince Williams Sound. Our Princess Patter said to keep our eyes open for porpoise and other small dolphins but the more open waters of Prince William Sound also brought more wave action and the good ship Island Princess began to rock a bit. Not too bad but for someone prone to motion sickness enough to send me to my bunk. Sandy was fine but chose to stick close. I think she used the ship laundry while I rested. My case of sea sickness wasn’t severe, just enough to be uncomfortable.

By dinner time most of the discomfort had passed even though we could still feel the ship’s motion more than I expected from a ship her size. Looking out the windows we could see why. The waves were running 4-6 ft. They were beautiful and mesmerizing but I didn’t trust myself to watch them for too long. I didn’t want to get queasy again as tonight was lobster night. That’s my favorite dinner on these cruises.

I haven’t said too much about the food on board but most of the time it was quite good and there was always food someplace from the Horizon Grill to the Pizza stand to popcorn by the pool. You certainly don’t go hungry.

The dinners were excellent, for the most part. We had a wonderful scallop dinner one night and of course the lobster and prawns were out of this world. My Beef Medallions one night were very tough and almost inedible which I found surprising and on our last night I chose the “thanksgiving” dinner of roast turkey. The theme was American but it was obvious that the meal could not have been prepared by an American because it was the worst turkey dinner I have ever had. But that was an exception not the rule.

By tomorrow we would be in College Fjord so the ship should stabilize as the waters there would once more be protected. I am looking forward to that.

Welcome to Glacier Bay National Park

Posted on June 16, 2013June 16, 2013 by Dusty Roads

And so as we arrive in Glacier Bay, a land reborn, a world returning to life, a living lesson in resilience. If ever we needed a place to intrigue and inspire us, to help us see all that’s possible in nature and ourselves, this is it. (from the Glacier Bay Brochure issued by the National Park Service)

Did you know that 250 years ago there was no Glacier Bay? 250 years ago the bay was completely covered by the Grand Pacific Glacier.

Naturalist John Muir was enamored of Glacier Bay. ” The very thought of this, my first Alaskan Glacier garden, is an exhilaration.”

As we stood shivering on the deck watching the ship make it’s way through the loose ice, it was easy to share that sentiment. Each berg, no matter the size, was unique and beautiful in its own, cold way.

The floating ice was getting larger now, an indication that we were nearing the end of the bay where the prize of the Margerie Glacier waited.

Glacier Bay is not only known for it’s ice, it’s also known for it’s wildlife but so far we hadn’t seen too much, possibly because of the late start to spring this year. But the bay was about to offer a consolation prize. As a particularly large ice floe floated by we spotted a strange looking spot on the ice. Binoculars came out to confirm and sure enough, it wasn’t dirt, it was a bald eagle.

It stayed right there floating along like Huck Finn on his Mississippi raft until it was out of sight.

About 9:30 we reached our destination, Margerie Glacier and with our arrival the jockeying for a view with the other 2000 passengers began in earnest.

Excited calls of “It’s Calving” mingled with the rangers comments over the PA system. Camera shutters clicked and no one wanted to miss a moment. People were crawling under the railings to get a tiny sliver of unobstructed view for their cameras to peek through.

I confess my frustration level was growing as I am sure was the case for many others. Those big blue screens may cut the wind but they are really in the way for pictures. Cold and (I confess) a little irritated we decided to go back down to our stateroom and see if we could see anything from our balcony.

Hit me upside the head for my stupidity! Here was the real view and we didn’t have to share with anyone else. Plus we were protected from the wind so it wasn’t as cold. Thank you Island Princess for the balcony upgrade.

We sat in comfort and snapped pictures to our hearts content. I did see the glacier calve once. I didn’t even try to catch a picture as I was just too much in awe. Although we wasted 45 minutes or so topside we still had a good 30 minutes before the captain swung the ship around so the starboard side balconies could have their turn.

Lesson learned…check the view from your balcony and avoid the crowds!

Glacier Bay

Posted on June 15, 2013June 15, 2013 by Dusty Roads

This is the post I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for and I have so much for show and tell. Glacier Bay Cruising is a highlight of many, many cruise lines for their Alaska trips. I admit we were really looking forward to seeing it. Mendenhall Glacier had only served to whet our appetites for more.

Skagway to Glacier Bay 113 nautical miles 11.5 knots

The Island Princess entered Glacier Bay from Icy Strait named for the multitude of ice bergs the first explorers found floating here. The Island Princess was selling tickets to “The Sanctuary” an adult only area of the ship. The Sanctuary has padded lounge chairs, “Serenity Stewards” to wait on you, blankets and Mimosas all for only $60.00 per person. The Sanctuary is located across the aft end of the ship.

The misty, cold, gray weather that had followed us so far continued to be with us as we entered Glacier Bay. We decided not to spend the money for the Sanctuary because of the weather. Even with blankets it seemed like we’d be warmer if we could keep moving around the deck. We learned later that we missed out on seeing a close up view of a pod of Orcas that frolicked in the wake. Maybe next time I’ll make a different decision. It’s also important to mention here that although Alaska in the spring is known for its rainy weather, we were experiencing much colder, wetter weather than is the norm. Everyone says spring is running about 2 weeks late. Just our luck! 🙁 But that means that you shouldn’t be discouraged about a late May cruise…next year could be glorious sunshine.

The Island Princess arrived off Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay around 6 am where they picked up National Park Rangers. They set up a table neat the Horizon Court on Deck 14 plus they made announcements on the PA describing what we were seeing as we slowly cruised the bay.

I say slowly cruised the bay because Island Princess was moving through an ice field of bergs and small ice floes.

These bergs are a good indication that the glaciers are actively calving. Most of the bergs were pretty small or at least looked that way from 150 ft. up. I wonder if the people on the Titanic said the same thing…Oh they’re just little ice bergs. 🙂

The ice didn’t just drift out of the way. We could hear the bergs hitting the hull before they drifted off or slid down the sides.

Once again I can say it was cold especially when we leaning on the railing to see around other passengers or to avoid the annoying blue windows.

The closer we got to the Margerie Glacier the more the anticipation grew. People didn’t pay any attention to the many smaller glaciers that we passed as we traveled further into the bay.

Skagway

Posted on June 14, 2013June 14, 2013 by Dusty Roads

By now you’ve had a glimpse of just some of the things to do in Skagway. Although the gold rush has been a theme in the other ports of call, Skagway, more than the others seem to embody those days. We loved the train and the Suspension Bridge, even the history of the garden and the role it played in providing fresh produce, all related back to the Gold Rush.

We were in port until 8PM so there was plenty of time to explore after excursion, had we been so inclined. However we were hungry having skipped the Quiche so we returned to the ship to eat and relax instead. Cruising is all about relaxing and we certainly embraced it this trip.

The town of Skagway is compact and easy to explore on foot. Everywhere you look you’ll see a celebration of the Gold Rush. It’s estimated that 40,000 prospectors passed through Skagway on the way to the Yukon Gold Fields. Most of Skagway actually falls with in Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park .

One of the places we didn’t see that would have been interesting was the boot hill of the Gold Rush…Gold Rush Cemetery, the final resting place of heroes and villains alike.

Another landmark, the Red Onion Saloon built in1897, still stands at the corner of 2nd and Broadway. It’s current owners aim to keep it’s frontier spirit intact.

While there be sure you hear about Soapy Sam. Soapy Sam was really named Jefferson Smith and he was a notorious con man who with his gang of 100 ruled Skagway in 1897 & 1898. Besides running a telegraph office with no telegraph lines and freight companies that never delivered. He used many different tricks to separate the honest folks from their hard earned money…none of it legal. He even maneuvered himself into being mayor. But like a good wild west tale, Soapy met his demise in a gunfight that pitted good against evil in the guise of Frank Reid (the good guy) against Soapy (the bad guy).

But no happy ending both Frank Reid and Soapy Sam lay dead at the end of the fight. Still the shoot out did free the town from the grip of these bad of outlaws ending the 2 year reign of terror.

One last thing to consider doing in Skagway…pan for gold. There are excursions that will give you that chance. I imagine that water will be mighty cold.

As we were relaxing in our stateroom Sandy stepped out to the balcony. All of a sudden she let out a yell demanding that I come quick. There was some animal down on the rocks! I couldn’t quite make it out at first so I ran back in for the binoculars. It turned out to be an otter. We watched it for a good 10 minutes as it wandered up a path and then came back down to the rocks again.

Finally is slipped into the water and swam off. Seeing that otter made up for skipping our visit to the town. If we’d gone back to explore some more after our late lunch we’d never have seen Mr. Otter! And for me….its all about the animals!