When we were planning our trip (the “royal we”, as everyone knows Peter does all the planning) everyone we mentioned the Alaskan cruise to said we should take one that goes into Glacier Bay. Now we know why. We had passed by some very impressive scenery before this but in the bay you are surrounded by amazing mountains, inlets, islands and glaciers. In the last 250 years the main glacier has retreated approximately 100 miles and we sailed through the bay left behind.
We were allowed out onto the bow of the ship while it was in Glacier Bay. It was cold, but not windy so we rugged up and went out. As we approached the Grand Pacific and Margerie Glaciers at the top of the bay the water became littered with large pieces of ice, some of them with very interesting patterns.
We saw one with what looked like a small black piece of ice, but fairly quickly realised that it was a bald eagle. It sat on the ice and didn’t fly away as we passed by.
As we got closer to the glaciers we realised that the best view was going to be on the port side for quite a while so we headed back to our room and the shelter of our balcony.
We were rewarded by not one, but two bald eagles.
The ship stayed in front of the glaciers for about an hour. It was fascinating listening to the loud cracking noises and watching pieces fall off.
It is impossible to describe it and the photos don’t give an idea of just how large the glaciers are, though the pieces of ice in the water are about the size of a small boat. The face of the Margerie Glacier is about 3 times the height of a cruise ship.
Sometimes after the loud cracking noises what looked like a small bit would break off and hit the water. The noise of the impact was amazing. These were no small bits breaking off. We wondered what the sound would be like if a huge chunk broke off and what size of wave would hit the ship.
Next stop Sitka.
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