It’s been a fantastic day here in Glacier Bay National Park. The National Geographic Sea Lion docked at Bartlett Cove in the middle of the night to pick up two park rangers and a cultural interpreter who would join us for the entire day in Glacier Bay. The ship remained docked until 6 a.m., so the photo instructors jumped on the opportunity to lead a sunrise photo walk. The kicker, though, is that the sun rises around 4 a.m. during this time of the year. Nevertheless we had an amazing turnout, with 25 guests joining us on the dock around 03:45 to join the walks. It turned out to be a spectacular sunrise – the soft golden glow of the rising sun slowly made its way up from behind the Fairweather Mountain range, and eventually crested over the peaks to provide some amazing light for the photographers.
Our first stop in the park was South Marble Island where we saw an amazing variety of birds, along with a massive colony of Steller sea lions. We enjoyed watching as flocks of gulls flew around the ship, chasing incoming bald eagles. There were also several puffins swimming in the waters around us, providing excellent views of these beautiful birds. After leaving South Marble, we continued north and spotted bear and mountain goats near Gloomy Knob, another fantastic sighting. We continued to make our way north of the park, and finally ended up at Margerie Glacier where we all stood on deck and watched for calving. On several occasions, massive chunks of ice crumbled off the face of the glacier and tumbled down to the sea below, emitting an enormous explosive sound as it finally made contact with the water. It was an exciting spectacle to witness.
In the afternoon, we cruised south and had absolutely phenomenal weather. The sun would peek through pockets of clouds, illuminating the mountains surrounding us, providing amazing opportunities for photography. In the evening, we arrived back at Bartlett Cove and disembarked the ship for a lovely one mile hike through the temperate rainforest, finally arriving at the Glacier Bay Lodge and park headquarters. It was a fantastic day, packed with action, and we look forward to many more to come!
