Glacier Bay

Beautiful weather for viewing Glacier Bay

The map shows the LARGE area that is Glacier Bay.... A National Park

From this vantage point we could HEAR the calving (breaking off of big chunks of ice) and SEE them as well....

We knew it was going to be a GREAT day when it began with this amazing rainbow.....

John with his trusty binoculars......

 This ship had on board a wonderful naturalist who gave MANY talks during the course of our visit to Alaska.... prior to seeing glaciers, we had a wonderful lecture that was laced with humor and definitely on OUR level..... it allowed us to KNOW what we were looking at all day while we were in Glacier Bay..... The naturalist, Gloeta, was also providing commentary for several hours  as the ship moved throughout the bay area.......Also, the captain does a great job of making sure that the ship is positioned in different ways for you to see the glaciers..... you can stay in your cabin if you have a good view (you can hear the commentary on the TV) or you can join others outdoors for great views....

A picture postcard view.......

With binoculars it was easy to spot sea lions frolicking on the ice......

According to the talk by the naturalist on board, the ice sheets we are seeing here once reached to the upper Midwest of the USA...John Muir, the conservationist visited here in 1879.... his observations showed that the glaciers had retreated more than 40 miles up the bay since the visit by Captain George Vancouver in 1750.  Today that visit must go 65 miles up the bay to view the glaciers.  This National Park MUST be visited by water arrival.... Once at the visitor center in Gustavus transportation can be obtained.... OR you can visit by cruise ship, as we did.... Access to the cruise ships is timed and limited.