• Home
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff and Advisors
  • Our Work
    • Research >
      • Animal ID
    • Education
    • Conservation >
      • 4K Videos
      • 4K Video Shorts
      • HD Videos
      • Tropical Wildlife >
        • Bahamas_2020
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2019
        • Solomons_2019
        • Maldives_2018
        • Isla_Guadalupe_2017
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2017
        • Channel_Islands_2015
        • Cabo_2015
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2014
        • Socorros_2013
        • Catalina_2013
  • Blog
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Membership
  • Contributions
MADE IN PUGET SOUND
  • Home
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff and Advisors
  • Our Work
    • Research >
      • Animal ID
    • Education
    • Conservation >
      • 4K Videos
      • 4K Video Shorts
      • HD Videos
      • Tropical Wildlife >
        • Bahamas_2020
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2019
        • Solomons_2019
        • Maldives_2018
        • Isla_Guadalupe_2017
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2017
        • Channel_Islands_2015
        • Cabo_2015
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2014
        • Socorros_2013
        • Catalina_2013
  • Blog
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Membership
  • Contributions

Exploring Alaska 7 Day Adventure

8/15/2017

1 Comment

 

First Days: Icebergs and Glaciers

Southeast Alaska can be a difficult place to live, work and play. The weather is gloomy, cold and rainy almost year round. A few months of the year, there are only have a few hours of daylight each day. Only a few weeks of summer can be expected each year, and this year South East Alaska saw only two. There are few roads that connect the cities and towns. Juneau, the capital of Alaska, is an island city. Located on the mainland, it is completely isolated and impossible to drive into or out of, beyond only a few miles. This major city is connected to the outside world only by boat or plane. This remote, nearly pristine region, with all its islands, stunning mountains, massive glaciers, beautiful waterfalls, deep narrow waterways and so much more, is truly spectacular. My family and I had an opportunity to experience seven days and nights of SE Alaska, from a very up-close and personal perspective. Alaska Quest Charters is one of the very best, most professional and most knowledgable charters in Alaska. Captain Tom Satre and his wife Tish were wonderful, knowledgable and skillful hosts.   
Alaska Quest
Snow Fields
Mountains
Icebergs
Iceberg
Iceberg
Iceberg
Iceberg
Click image to enlarge
On our first day sailing out of Juneau the weather was perfect. The seas were calm with warm temperatures and beautiful clear blue skies. My daughter would comment a few days later that she had to come to Alaska to get her summer tan. We headed south through Gastineau Channel towards Stephens Passage. Admiralty Island was to our west and soon we're seeing and navigating past large icebergs. The sun's blue light is the only light able to penetrate the dense ice. As the day waned, we glided past Tracy Arm into No Name Cove to drop anchor. That evening we dined on perfectly prepared Filet Mignon, accompanied with a delicious Malbec. 
By mid day of our second day, we were approaching our first close encounter with the massive South Sawyer Glacier. Although difficult to gauge how large and impressive the size of this glacier is, I've tried to present my shots below to demonstrate its grandeur. In the third shot below is a 65' tourist boat, about 300 yards from the glacier. Look close in the lower right corner of the first shot. Then compare it with the bottom right corner of the third shot, after the tour boat has moved in close at the base of the glacier.
While on the top deck of the Quest enjoying this spectacular view, Tish brought us our lunch. We dined at a table for six, with one of the greatest views on the planet. Massive chunks of ice and rock calving off as we dined on delicious Minestrone soup and crab salad sandwiches. A few moments after a massive piece of glacier fell into the water with a great boom, the entire bay was rocked with powerful waves. That piece of glacier may have been over 1000 feet tall when it fell. 
Iceberg
South Sawyer Glacier from a mile away
South Sawyer Glacier
South Sawyer Glacier
North Sawyer Glacier
Click image to enlarge
Later that afternoon we fished for ice at the North Sawyer Glacier. My daughter Sahana is seen below scooping up pieces of glacial ice that probably originated millions of years ago. We continued past SumDum Glacier and dropped anchor in Windham Bay for our second night. Before dinner we set out our shrimp pots, one of the things I had never done before in my life. Finally For dessert and to end our amazing second day, we set out in the skiff to see Humpback Whales breaching in the bay. 
Sahana Ice Fishing Glacial Ice
Sahana Ice Fishing Glacial Ice
2 Humpback Whales breathing in Taku Harbor
A Humpback Whale's fluke in Taku Harbor
Dinner first nitght
Map of trip
Click image to enlarge
1 Comment
Helmut
8/15/2017 03:36:16 pm

DREW, THANK YOU FOR SHARING, I WAS BORN IN FAIRBANKS ALASKA. THIS BRINGS BACK GREAT MEMORIES. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS WITH ME. NOT SURPRISINGLY GREAT JOB TELLING A GREAT STORY. HOPEFULLY WE CAN CONTINUE TO HAVE THIS PRECIOUS GOD'S CREATION FOR OUR KIDS, THEIR KIDS, FRIENDS AND FAMILIES FOR MANY YEARS.

HELMUT

HELMUT

Reply



Leave a Reply.



    Archives

    April 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    January 2014
    January 2013
    May 2012

    Author

    Drew Collins  professional underwater photographer and environmentalist living and diving primarily in the beautiful Emerald green waters of Puget Sound near Seattle, Washington. 

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Made In Puget Sound
© Copyright 2018 - 2023
501(c)(3) Nonprofit Agency. Tax-ID number: 82-3386265.
​All contributions are 100% tax deductible. 
  • Home
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff and Advisors
  • Our Work
    • Research >
      • Animal ID
    • Education
    • Conservation >
      • 4K Videos
      • 4K Video Shorts
      • HD Videos
      • Tropical Wildlife >
        • Bahamas_2020
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2019
        • Solomons_2019
        • Maldives_2018
        • Isla_Guadalupe_2017
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2017
        • Channel_Islands_2015
        • Cabo_2015
        • Sea_of_Cortez_2014
        • Socorros_2013
        • Catalina_2013
  • Blog
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Membership
  • Contributions