Alaska Cruise – Day 4 (Glacier Bay)

At first it seemed that our journey through Glacier Bay, the much-famed and little-cruised beauty spot, would be a bust. We awoke to impenetrable fog and just the merest suggestion of shapes that might be land off on the horizon.

By 9:00 a.m. the fog had not dissipated, but at least had lifted enough to allow us to view this justifiably famous bay with its turquoise glacier of grand proportion and "calves" littering the waters at its feet. Although much of the water was cloudy (with glacial "flour"), in spots it was clear enough to let us see the larger submerged portions of these calves.

The glacier calved several times during the hour or so we cruised the bay, although I only personally witnessed it twice. (I have a genius for being on the wrong side of the ship at critical moments.)

Calving…a sudden mist, a spray of powder-like snow, then the stately fall of ice into the water that receives its new guest with aplomb, barely granting a ripple of disturbance to acknowledge the moment.

The stately fall of ice – the second of expectant silence, then the roar of "white thunder" as the sound reaches the ship.

I had expected the horizontal striations in the ice, the revealed layers of dirt and rock showing where the glacier had engulfed a few truckloads of earth as it formed, but I hadn't anticipated the vertical chimneys and fissures or the diagonal swatches of black that suggested past conflicts with stubborn outcroppings of rock and soil.

Above the glacier the moss-garden of encroaching vegetation revealed the persistence of plant life, struggling with the ice for dominance.

Aboard the boat, jockeying for position and watching bad manners vie with the blind obstinacy of age, proving that "cruising" is not a past-time limited to the well-bred.

Later, there were orca! "Killer whales" looking very un-killerish, positively frolicking in the water.

Later:

We lunched in the "fancy" dining room. The R.C. finds making conversation with strangers at the table difficult. Oddly enough I, although in general much less easy with strangers, had no such problem. I found our companions charming and the food delicious.

Also, we did laundry. Knowing there were laundry facilities on-board (although expensive ones!) helped a lot with the packing, but I don't dry most of my clothes at home. There's no point…in Colorado's dry air, even jeans air-dry in three or four hours. Now I'm wondering how long it's going to take in Alaska's water-soaked air?

Still Later:

Rougher seas again. Forget the amenities of the luxury cabins – the greater stability of the lower decks is a blessing. Whenever I get that drunken-headed feeling, I go lay down for a while.

If it's evening, I get to see what kind of towel origami the steward has created for me that day. We've had a fish, an anteater (although the R.C. insists it was meant to be a moose), and I can't remember what-else. Very adorable.