5/20/2023 (Saturday)
This would be the final full day of our cruise. We were in Endicott Arm, heading toward the Dawson Glacier. This would be the only location overlap we would have with our 2017 UnCruise.
At 6:30 am the Captain made a call that Orcas were near the boat. We went out and saw their fins a few times. It turned out to be an adult with young ones so we didn't pursue them and they left the area.
The early morning was foggy and overcast. As we moved up Endicott Arm we started seeing the amazing blue ice from the glacier.
Our schedule was a bit different today. Rather than the usual early breakfast, we would have brunch at 10:00. At the last minute we found out that they were offering a few engine room tours, so we signed up. It was a very compact (and loud!) engine room with two diesel main drives, about 500 HP each and two generators. The smaller generator runs at night and serves as a back-up to the larger one used during the day.
We continued making our way up the Endicott Arm, and finally rounded a point to see Dawson Glacier.
At 1:40 we left on our skiff tour to the face of Dawson Glacier. By now the weather was very nice, with no rain and partly cloudy skies. We were well bundled up as the glacier makes its own wind and cold, but we were both fine. Our ship was parked about two miles back from the face and we approached to within 1/8 mile on the skiff.
We spent about 30 minutes right in front of the glacier, just enjoying the views. There were several small calving events, but nothing spectacular. There were a few pictures taken including one of our skiff driver Rica, who was dressed up in a bear costume. She was a big personality for sure!
Our guide Peter fished a chunk of ice out of the water and we examined it. It was really clear, and if held just the right way showed some amazing prismatic colors.
On the way back we checked out the tortured geology of the rock in the area as well as the carving and polishing done by the glacier. There were several waterfalls in the area as well as a hanging glacier and a valley glacier. It was fun to compare the three types.
We made our way back to the ship around 4:00. We got one last view of the Wilderness Discoverer with the Dawson Glacier in the background. A nice way to wrap up our trip.
We had our final dinner tonight and received our disembarkation instructions. We would wake up at the dock in Juneau in the morning and leave the ship.
Seems like a great trip! If I ever go on another Alaskan cruise, this would be a new, fresh, interesting way to do it.
ReplyDeleteThey have several cruises to choose from.
DeleteI agree with Serene that this would be a new way to see Alaska up close.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think I see a missing wire in the engine room pictures 😁
I think I took a million pictures of blue ice. Each one was different.
ReplyDelete