July 29, 2009 Glacier Bay!

Note for new readers: You can "blow up" any picture by clicking on it. You probably will need to on this page to see the whale blows and the ship in by the glacier.

What a great day. After listening to the fog horn all night, we awoke to this sight out our window:


It was the precursor of a bright sunny day. Glacier Bay, where we cruised all day, lived up to its rep.

We were greeted at the entrance by this blow from a whale:


We passed several glaciers that came right down to the water's edge as we progressed up the bay, but this was the largest, about 300 feet high and 1/2 mile wide:

Note the boat in the picture for some perspective....

Where do the glaciers come from? Lots of snow on the mountaintops collects and starts a slow slide down the mountain and valleys. Because of the cold weather, the snow accumulates rather than melting, the weight turning the lower layers to ice. Here's a picture of the source of this one:


Some of the glaciers take a longer and more tortured path down the mountain. Here's one:

The "snow road" around both sides of the mountain in the middle is, or are, glaciers working their way down.

As we left the bay late today, another whale blew a farewell kiss:


As we departed the bay, we saw the first nice sunset of the trip:


Tomorrow, Skagway!

Love to you all,

MMG and DDG