Today I woke not really knowing what to expect from this trip. The ship was going to be sailing through Glacier Bay National Park which was only accessible by water and then docking later at Icy Strait Point a special port built for specially for Cruise Ships.
We were up and having breakfast at just gone 8am. It was perfect timing as the fog just started to lift and we were treated to some lovely views as we ate seated by the window on the port side. Just as we did so, a Park Ranger started an intermittent guided talk of what we were passing over the speaker system. We smiled at some people who looked frozen standing outside whilst we were sat inside in the warm getting at least as good a view as them.
The park is enormous and is the size of the next three National Parks put together. The part we were passing through reminded us of the ‘Sounds’ in New Zealand but not as impressive. We sailed slowly past the first glacier of the day. I felt a bit non plussed as if once you have seen one glacier you have seen them all.
One of the now on-board Park Rangers was giving a running commentary in the Crow’s Nest Lounge as the ship entered the inlet for the John Hopkins Glacier and so we headed up there. I bought myself a quite expensive hat as everyone had convinced me it would be cold when we getting off the ship later today. I tempered the cost with the fact it was a decent quality and the money was going to the National Parks.
We were soon joined by a very cold T&G who had been standing outside since 6.30am looking at the view. I had been very happy watching it up to now through the floor to ceiling window eating my hot breakfast and some cups of tea.
The John Hoskins Glacier was very impressive. The inlet for ships had only opened for the season 2 days earlier and it was the first time Eurodam had been up and close with it. Only 2 ships each day are allowed into Glacier Bay National Park and so we felt quite privileged. The captain even announced that all staff could leave their positions for 15 minutes to go to the bow of the ship to have a look.
We wandered outside to the 6th floor outside deck which had been opened for the occasion to get up close and personal.
What we could see was apparently the end of a 12-mile glacier. It was quite ‘dirty’ coloured in places but beautifully blue in others. I had heard of others talking about glaciers ‘talking’ and we could hear it creaking even though we were a way back from it. Then every few minutes there would be a large cracking noise and suddenly a large chunk would crash down to the sea. This is called ‘calving’ for reasons unknown to me. Even more strange was the fact that all the Americans standing gave a large cheer each time it happened. I don’t think they understood they were cheering climate change and its impact upon the planet.
I must say though my earlier thoughts on the scenery were changing especially as I stood alone and looked back down the inlet to which we had come, away from the crowing crowd who just wanted to see the glacier. The backward view had a majesty all of its own and I loved it.
We went back inside to get a cuppa again from the Crows Nest Lounge before heading back to the cabin for a while to catch up on things.
At 3.15pm we met up again with T&G for another Royal Dutch Afternoon Tea. It certainly filled a spot and was good. From here we headed down to one of the lower lounges to wait until the ship docked. Karen & I may have fortified ourselves with a glass of bubbles or two.
Before 5.30pm we were off at Icy Strait Point on Chichagoff Island and I was not sure what to expect. As we walked along the dock, we had pointed out a Bald Eagle sitting on a nest very close to the ship. Even I was impressed by this.
I had booked tickets for Karen & I to go up in the Gondola to up the side of the mountain. However, to get to the base station we were told to take another small cable car. This had a large queue and the attendant told us it would be quicker to walk taking the nature trail. The trail itself was pretty through the forest but very uphill. We soon both got quite warm and had to take off our newly purchased hats which kind of annoyed me.
At the base station we checked in for the ‘Fastest Gondola in Alaska’ up the mountain. There was no wait. It was a fast and steep ride upwards. Now Karen loves these at the best of times but something at this velocity and height off the ground was never going to keep her calm. There were lots of ‘F’ words being exclaimed our potential predicament. The worst was when we slowed and she shouted the obvious of ‘OMG – we are ‘F’ high.
We survived and reached the top safely. The view was good was obscured mostly by the inconveniently natural trees everywhere. We couldn’t even see our ship. I could confirm though that using Karen’s parlance we were ‘F’ ing high. We wandered round for a while and decided to head back down as we wanted to explore the old cannery.
For the journey down, Karen was much less tense and we made it without anymore outbursts. As there was no queue for the other gondola, we took that short gentle ride to avoid the nature trail.
We headed for the cannery when someone shouted whale. We stopped and looked out to sea and sure enough we could see intermittently water spouts. We wondered whether that constituted enough to claim we had seen a whale in the wild. Then we saw a tail a few times and were still not sure. When the Orca jumped high out and twisted in the air we knew that we had definitely seen a whale and felt lucky and privileged to have done so. Sadly my photos didn’t do the sightings justice.
After pinching ourselves we headed to the cannery where there was an exhibition about the old town of Hoonah and the cannery, we were now standing in. The building had been sub divided into various units each containing good quality and different shops. Exactly as had hoped for in Juneau. We wandered around for a while, finding lots of things we liked but couldn’t afford.
Then we went back onto the ship and after a very swift change headed to the Dining Room. Service was good. My New York Strip Sirloin was just OK but was just a poor selection on my part. It was then off to the Rolling Stone Lounge where we sat through the Yacht Rock set which pleasingly included some Jimmy Buffet. The less said about the cougars on the dance floor the better.
This was a most unexpected good day. We had really enjoyed it and felt it was more the Alaska we had hoped for. We were in bed just after 11pm as we knew it was another early morning docking the next day.
