10-Day Alaskan Cruise - Cruising Glacier Bay

The AMAZING Glacier Bay.

 
10-Day Alaskan Cruise - Cruising Glacier Bay

Wow. It's the best word to describe it. Just, WOW.

Glacier Bay National Park and preserve is comprised of 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, forests, and waterways. It is a highlight of the 25-million-acre World Heritage site, one of the world's largest protected natural areas designated by UNESCO.

We had a full day cruising into and out of Glacier Bay. Our cruise picked up the park ranger and staff who narrated our day for us. The boat itself didn't have any scheduled activities planned and they encouraged everyone to really enjoy and take in the beauty.

At first I thought, it's mountains and ice and I'm going to get bored. But that was FAR from the case. It was such a unique experience; to slowly cruise by and get all the different angles, and 'faces' of the mountains, trees, and glaciers. The water was so calm, pure, beautiful blue green, dotted with pieces of floating ice, from the size of a deck of cards, to what appears to be the size of a VW Beetle. 

We went up the bay to the Margerie Glacier in Tarr Inlet. So serene. The glacier itself was very neat to see. The face of the glacier had whites, blues, greys. A spectacular sight against that blue-green water. If you listened very closely you could hear the movement of the glacier, cracking. I didn't get to see it calving, where the ice falls into the water.

The boat then did a slow turn, so again, you were getting all those angles. It was an overall cloudy day, but when you got the glimpses of the sun, it added another layer of brilliance to the view. Then we headed back out of the park. Again, I was not bored at all, and even stood out in the cold for 2 hours watching (that's saying something for this Florida gal!). 
This is a pamphlet we were given that shows the layers and names of what we viewed, followed by a few pictures that just don't capture IT. But I tried :)