Fjordward into Glacier Bay

There is always that eerie feeling when we head out to the open decks early in the morning: the coolness in the air, the glassy waters, the mist and the silence that is only broken by the swish of the water as our ship glides forward.

We entered the bay just as dawn was breaking.   Before venturing too far we stopped to pick up two Rangers and a Geographer who were our guides for the day, and on hand to answer any questions we may have had.

The bay is very deep, carved out by a glacier. and as it retreated, saltwater filled the void left creating this picturesque fjord. The Bay is over 1000 ft deep.

Making our way to the very end of the bay we passed many little islands and inlets surrounded by breathtaking snow-capped mountains.

Evidence of the receding can be seen where a glacier used to be, and is now a barren track that leads down to the sea.

 Margerie Glacier looked so small in the distance, but the closer we got the magnitude of its size was realised.  Standing at 250 ft above water level and stretching a mile wide, suddenly it was our ship that looked insignificant.

Your first thought is “how dirty it looked”, due to the accumulation of dirt and rocks from avalanches and rockslides. But then the colour hits you. The same question is on everyone’s lips, “What makes the ice look so blue?”.  Basically when light hits the glacier, the reds are absorbed, while the blues reflect back though the ice to your eyes.

Spinning the ship around the Captain gave everyone,  no matter where on the ship you were, a close up view of the Glacier. 

After nearly an hour there we headed back down the inlet and into another for a view of the Johns Hopkins Glacier, but it was the Lamplugh Glacier that caught our attention once again.  Here was anchored one of those small expedition ships, and their passengers were exploring the glacier in either kayaks or zodiacs. How tiny they looked…

Our time in Glacier Bay was now coming to an end, and as we started to make our way back out, the Coral Princess was taking our place.  A small boat came speeding out to collect the rangers, and we then headed out of the Bay making our way to Juneau.

And so it is “Sea La Vie” from the beautiful Sun Princess.