Alaska Trip Day 8 – Glacier Bay National Park

July 25, 2023

After eating breakfast in the Dining Room, we went out on to the bow of the ship to see Lamplugh Glacier and then at Jaw Point, we saw the John Hopkins Glacier at a distance. The rangers said the boat did not want to go into the slough too far to disturb the many seals and sea lions that were napping on the smaller ice glaciers floating in the water.

We were treated to hot chocolate on the bow while we were really cold. When the boat was moving, the wind just cut through your skin. While it was still, it was cold but did not hurt as much.

Then we went inside the ship, up to the Crow’s Nest, Deck 11, to watch the views from behind some windows, where it was warmer and more comfortable.

About 1pm, we decided to get lunch at the Dive-In. Mike P and I went and got some hamburgers and chicken sandwiches with fries. Was all good. Then we got to see the largest glacier of the day, the Margerie Glacier.

It was 250 ft high (from the water to the top of the front edge of the glacier. It went for miles up the canyon. The ship stayed in the area for about an hour allowing everyone to see the view. But, as the ship was leaving the Margerie Glacier, it decided to shed a large hunk of ice into the water. We saw it go, but did not act fast enough to record it.

Renee and I decided to watch a presentation about Glacier Bay National Park and the sites and sounds in the park. It was pretty interesting.

Afterwards, we went back out on to the bow of the ship. The rangers said around 4:30pm the ship would be getting close to an area where there could be various mammal sightings, including whales. So, as we searched and searched for any whales, around 5:15pm we saw a couple whales well off in the distance. We only saw the spouts of water several times and sometimes the back of the whale would come to the surface. It was a long way off, and the camera just barely caught the spout of water.