The sounding of the ship's foghorn was what woke one of us up very early this fine morning as we entered the opening of Glacier Bay at Sitakaday Narrows. Once again, the team of park rangers, their cultural ambassador, and Alaska Geographic Reps would board the ship around 6:30am from Bartlett Cove. With the presence of the low dense fog, we were certain we might be seeing very little today. Time would tell.
Even though breakfast began at 7:30am, we did not want to miss possibly seeing the mountain goats that reside on Gloomy Knob. After bundling up, we headed for deck six forward to find the deck wet from either rain or heavy fog. The wind was so cold it cut right through our Arctic clothing. The scenic narration began about 8:15am, about the same time we passed by Gloomy Knob. Looking up at the bridge, we spotted the park ranger narrator and cruise director Clare ready to speak and take photos. At this moment, we could not even see the granite rock, but the closer we got, the fog miraculously lifted, presenting us with a clear view of the vertical cliffs and crevice's. There were several goats here, but without good binoculars and a camera with a powerful lens, they were really hard to spot. This early in the day, they are usually laying down and not moving around. We counted about five of these furry animals – all in different spots. There were no babies among them.
We knew from last week that the next sighting would be Margerie Glacier, but closer to 10am. That gave us time to defrost and go to breakfast around 8:45am. Yesterday we did tell Arsa that we might be late, and he remembered from last week. No problem, our table was waiting for us. Coffee warmed us up as did the hearty meal of eggs, bacon, and toast. More folks filtered in, but at 9am, the manager had to turn some of them away as the Pinnacle Grill closed by then. The Lido was still opened until 10am.
The further north we traveled, the clearer it became. The ship passed by Reid and Lamplugh Glaciers on the way to Margerie Glacier, one of the larger tidewater glaciers in this area and one of the most photographed. Even though this glacier is considered one of the most active with calving, it sure was not living up to its reputation this morning. Just like last week, no dramatic calving, but just silence while Captain Smit spent one hour in Tarr Inlet for all to view the glacier. At least the sun had popped out long enough to get some photos of the ice field and glacier face with the backdrop of the ice-covered peaks of Fairweather Range. There were no harbor seals or sea otters here, but we did see a lot of birds.
Despite the sun shining, to say it was bone-chilling cold is an understatement. And we managed to miss the serving of Dutch pea soup on the outside decks once again at 10am. One thing we saw was another ship, the Viking Venus, the first ship in that cruise line we have ever seen here in Alaska.
Closer to noontime, we entered Johns Hopkins Inlet and all the way in to see the Johns Hopkins Glacier. Smaller in size than Margerie, this tidewater glacier is actually rebounding and growing. The Captain did not spend a lot of time here, and there was no calving. We continued on, passing Lamplugh and Reid on the starboard side. We continued watching the scenery while the park ranger program took place in the World Stage. The second passing of Gloomy Knob presented a couple of sightings of the mountain goats. Almost impossible to see with the naked eye, the camera caught them.
Last week, we found that every chair that had a view of the outside was occupied throughout the ship. Even in the Lido. So lunch was in our room from room service with two club sandwiches. This was our first time to order room service, and it was delivered within 20 minutes and quite good. By then, several groups of sea otters floated by and we got some good close-up photos of them. Keeping our eyes peeled for other wildlife sightings, all we saw were the otters. Someone reported seeing a whale in one of the glacier inlets, but that was not verified by the ranger.
The park ranger and their group left the ship about 3:30pm, climbing down the ladder to an aluminum catamaran-style boat. Then much to our surprise, network TV was back when we reached Bartlett Cove. Will it stay on for a while? It's anybody's guess. Captain Smit came on the speakers at 5pm and announced there was a humpback sighting on the port side. This time it was correct as we saw one or two whales jumping, spouting, splashing and rolling…exposing their fins and tails. Then they dove and we never saw them again. And while he was already talking, he continued to tell everyone about the weather as we approach Ketchikan tomorrow. He warned about increasing winds, powerful enough to cause the ship to list sometime around midnight. He said we can expect rain, possibly heavy at times this evening and also tomorrow in Ketchikan. And the outside decks may be roped off for everyone's safety.
As usual, hundreds of photos had been snapped today, and the rest of the afternoon was used to process the best of them. Dinner this evening was casual but with a splash of orange for Dutch Day. The theme would last all evening and included activities in the Crow's Nest such as line dancing and partying Dutch-style. And if you were in the mood for magic, the show of Nick Paul was for you.
Dinner was good with some Dutch items like seafood cocktail, Westland salad, and Dutch pea soup. Mains were Bami goreng and pork cordon bleu. Both were good. We shared a slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Also very good.
So far we have not felt any rough seas or listing, but that is sure to come. Hoping the rain stays away in port tomorrow, but that might be wishing too much.
Bill & Mary Ann
