CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 7 - TRACY ARM FJORD AND TWIN SAWYER GLACIERS

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. y

SPIRIT OF YORKTOWN

GOLD RUSH INSIDE PASSAGE – JUNEAU TO SEATTLE

August 15, 2010 to August 25, 2010


FREDERICK SOUND, TRACY ARM FJORD & TWIN SAWYER GLACIERS

Knowing that we were traveling into an area that we have never been before, we both got up early and headed down for our light breakfast and early morning coffee. We were greeted by a lounge full of fellow passengers all with the same thing in mind. We had multiple humpback whale sightings while we traveled along Kupreanof Island through Holkham Bay and in to Tracy Arm Fjord. Tracy Arm Fjord consists of two fjords that are each about 30 miles long and is home to the Twin Sawyer Glaciers - North Sawyer Glacier and South Sawyer Glacier. Today we traveled to the South Glacier.

We had our first sighting of a goat on a hillside high above us. There are so many beautiful waterfalls that we passed along the way it was incredible. Two of the most beautiful falls were Icy Falls and Hole in the Wall Falls – both of which the Captain maneuvered the ship right up to the face of and everyone on the bow of the boat got wet from the mist. As we traveled further back we passed the Carnival Spirit and Cruise West’s Spirit of Discovery. Passengers from all three vessels were waving to each other as we passed each other.

We began to see several large icebergs floating in the waters around us and then when we turned the final corner before us was an amazing wall of ice. The face of South Sawyer Glacier is about half a mile across with spires hundreds of feet high in the sky. The brilliant deep blue of the freshly exposed ice on the glacier was nothing short of spectacular. I have never seen such blue ice nor had I ever been that close to a glacier before. The Captain stayed at the face of the glacier for quite a long time, and then David told us that if we looked to our right we would see hundreds of harbor seals basking in the warm sun on all of the “bergie bits” in the waters below the glacier. Because the water was so thick with icebergs at this point, the Captain had to keep his distance from them.

When it was time for us to leave, we traveled down the fjord to the place where we had finally turned and could see the glacier and the Yorktown stopped. They announced that Alyssa was going to go off the ship with two other crew members to bring us a sample of a “bergie bit” and that it would be on display in the lounge. She took off in a rubber dinghy and brought back two samples for us to see. They were both about 24” thick. You could actually see the ice crystal patterns in the dense ice. It was amazing to see this so close. They looked almost like a pattern had been stamped into them. Common sense told you that wasn’t possible!

After dinner David told us we would travel through the Wrangell Narrows early tomorrow morning and would pass Five Finger Island Lighthouse. We would be in Frederick Sound, one of the best feeding grounds for humpback whales – and then we would travel on to Petersburg. Guess who was getting up early again in the morning?!

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 5 - GLACIER BAY

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 5

SPIRIT OF YORKTOWN

GOLD RUSH INSIDE PASSAGE – JUNEAU TO SEATTLE

August 15, 2010 to August 25, 2010

GLACIER BAY

The next morning we awoke to heavy fog and rain. We pulled into Bartlett Cove to the ranger station to bring on board our forest ranger and Tlingit Indian at 5:45 a.m. and then began our way into Glacier Bay – an excursion that would take us 60 miles back into see Marjorie Glacier and the Grand Pacific Glacier. One of the interesting places we passed on our journey into Glacier Bay National Park was the Marble Islands. This is an area that is designated to protecting nesting birds. As we crept closer, we could see the boulders covered with stellar sea lions near the waters’ edge. Then, as the fog lifted a little, we could see black cormorants and white kittiwakes – nesting birds – all perched on the higher rocks of the islands. We could hear the sea lions barking and could see some of them jumping into the frigid glacier waters below. Further on, we came upon our first sighting of puffins. These plump little birds were floating in the icy water proudly. They have a black neck and back with white sides of their head and breast. Their most noticeable feature is their bright orange bill. The puffins we saw were tufted puffins because of the yellow tufts of feathers that curl back from each side of their head.

There were a few sea otters in the distance, but we never got close enough to get decent pictures of them. At one point, one of the crew members pointed out several of them swimming together almost forming what appeared to be a log. These furry mammals were almost hunted to extinction by the Russian fur traders in the 1860’s. They were given full protection in 1911 under the Fur Seal Treaty that was signed by the United States, Great Britain, Russia and Japan. We also saw a humpback whale in the distance.

There was a misty rain falling for most of the morning. The Captain took us into a cove at one point on our journey back into the park. The fog was almost lining the curves of the mountains as they gently met the ocean waters. The aquamarine color of the water was incredible as well as how calm and still the water was. There was not a ripple on it. It was so peaceful and serene and I could not help just stand there in awe of the entire majestic wilderness before me. This beautiful place will forever remain just as it is today thanks for the preservation efforts of people like John Muir.

Later in the morning, our Tlingit (pronounced Klingit) native Alice Haldane spoke to us about her heritage. She is the grandchild of the Wolf clan, the original people of Glacier Bay. Tlingit means “the people”. The Tlingit natives were run out of Glacier Bay because the Grand Pacific Glacier was moving forward. It destroyed all of their homes and artwork. Glacier Bay was the Tlingit homeland and now means “the bay in place of the glacier”, according to Alice. The Tlingit tribe moved to Hooneah or Icy Strait Point on Chichagof Island to wait for the ice to release in Glacier Bay. Unfortunately, that did not happen soon enough and after the turn of the century and the formation of the National Park in 1925, much of the Tlingit homeland was incorporated in the park land and thus prohibited activities of the Tlingit there. Hoonah means “village by the cliff” in the Tlingit language and Hooneah became Hoonah in 1901. The Tlingit tribe did not return to Glacier Bay for many years. The National Park Service maintained relations with the Tlingit and recently has encouraged them to return to the park where they can carry out some of their traditions. They have also been encouraged to return on boat trips for the children and the tribe natives to come back and learn about how this all figures in to their spirituality. Alice seemed genuinely appreciative that she was “allowed” to return into the park on our Cruise West boat and to share her heritage with us. She ended her talk by saying “Gunalchéesh” (Thank you) and “Tsoo Ye Lek’waa sa Teen” (Until we meet again). Alice was very interesting to listen to, and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing her speak about her people.

Around 1:00 in the afternoon, The Spirit of Yorktown arrived at the face of Marjorie Glacier and Grand Pacific Glacier. Because of the fog and rain, it was difficult to see the massive ice mass before us. The green glacier waters below had a few icebergs floating in the glassy waters here and there. Because of the weather conditions, it was difficult to see the glacier face all at the same time. We were encouraged when the fog would lift for a moment and we would get a glimpse of the towers of ice – but we never got to see the truly incredible river of ice as we have seen before on earlier cruises. We were further disappointed when the Captain left Marjorie Glacier after only being there for about half an hour because The Spirit of Yorktown only moved at 12 knots, and we had to be out of the park by a certain time. On our way out of Glacier Bay, the Captain did slow down at one point to show us a faraway glimpse of Lampugh Glacier; but those were our only glacier sightings for the day. We stopped at Bartlett Cove to drop off our ranger and Alice before we headed west between Baranof and Chichagof Island through Peril Strait to Sitka which would be our next port-of-call.

That evening after dinner, David talked about Sitka and its’ Russian heritage. When we returned to our cabin after his talk, we were surprised to have received a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries from the crew of The Yorktown in celebration of our Tenth anniversary. We shared the champagne the next evening at dinner.

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 3

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 3

SPIRIT OF YORKTOWN

GOLD RUSH INSIDE PASSAGE – JUNEAU TO SEATTLE

August 15, 2010 to August 25, 2010

EMBARKATION AND SAILAWAY ON THE SPIRIT OF YORKTOWN

We could see The Spirit of Yorktown from our hotel window at the Goldbelt Hotel in Juneau as she pulled into the harbor in Juneau on August 15, 2010 early in the morning around 7:00 a.m. Though we could not begin boarding her until 3:00 p.m. we were all still anxious to get the cruise portion of our vacation underway.

The shops along Juneau’s waterfront were all open early in anticipation of the cruise ship passengers converging on their town in hopes of finding that one special souvenir that they can’t do without before heading home. We joined all of the tourists and visited the shops one more time before we left.

We decided to take the Glacier Express bus out to see Mendenhall Glacier one more time before we boarded the ship and left in hopes of possibly seeing a black bear feeding on the salmon in the river or getting a better picture of Mendenhall Glacier. There is a very informative and interesting Visitor’s Center at Mendenhall; and we walked up to that and spent time going through the exhibits inside and watching the film that is presented by the National Park Service. After that, we headed down to the walkway that is along the river overlooking the glacier. The walkway is raised about 10-12 feet above ground and is built with sturdy wooden planks to walk on with a nice railing and thick fence wire underneath to prohibit anyone from falling. There are rangers at several points along the way to explain to you what you are seeing. The main attraction for everyone at this time of year is to see the salmon running. The river was thick with red salmon. The unfortunate thing about walking on this path at this time of year is the stench from the dead salmon on the edge of the river. Thus is the circle of life.

The passengers of The Yorktown all gathered in one room at the Goldbelt Hotel in Juneau at 3:00 p.m. We sat at round tables for eight and began chatting and getting to know some of the 130 other passengers who would be joining us on our journey from Juneau to Seattle for the next ten days. On the walls in this gathering room were poster pictures of Alaskan wildlife; and we all looked at them hoping that we would be able to get the chance to experience these animals up, close and personal on our cruise.

From the Goldbelt, we were bused in four buses across the bridge over the Gastineau Channel to Douglas Island where we arrived at the Perseverance Theater. This small theater was founded in 1979 and its’ mission is to entertain people with Alaska Native work.

Today, we saw a production of “Cedar House” that was written and produced by Ishmael Hope, a Juneau storyteller of Inupiaq and Tlingit heritage. He and another actor told five different native stories. The stage is simple and made of cedar planks. There are a few native Indian props that are used during the performance strategically located around the stage.

The two men began by telling us “The Origin of Mosquitoes” then continued with “The Clan Migration”, “The Birth of Raven”, “The Salmon Box”, and ended with “The Raven and the Brown Bears”. There was some dancing and beating on drums, but really not much music. The entire performance was about 30 minutes long.

After the performance, we were finally back on our bus and headed to The Spirit of Yorktown to board and get underway on our cruise! When we arrived at the dock a good portion of the ships’ crew were standing at the foot of the gangway to welcome us as we boarded – including the Captain! Once we were onboard, a crew member took us to our cabin and then we were on our own to explore and meet up in about half an hour for our mandatory safety drill.


Because the ship only carriers 130 passengers, there is only one dining room. There is a lounge area with couches and comfortable chairs which is where we would gather each evening after dinner to hear a talk on wildlife, whales, native culture and many other interesting topics. There were two Exploration Leaders on board, David and Alyssa.

The Yorktown has three decks – the Sun Deck with four balcony cabins and the bridge, the Promenade Deck and the Main Deck. It is 17 laps around the Promenade deck to complete one mile. The Sun Deck is partly covered with white Adirondack chairs and small round tables with white wooden chairs around them. Many people spent time hear reading their books as we cruised the waters of the Inside Passage. The Sun Deck is also the only place where smoking is allowed on the ship. From the Promenade Deck, if we climbed down one flight of stairs we would be on the Main Deck where there were inside cabins and the lounge towards the front of the vessel. The lounge looked like a very large living room filled with vinyl covered, curved bench seats that were on both sides of the room with marble topped round tables. In the middle of the room were love seats and chairs all placed in groupings to encourage groups of six or eight to get to know one another. There was a bar at the back of the lounge – mid ship – and the buffet station at the very front of the room under the floor to ceiling picture windows overlooking the bow of the boat.

Casual breakfast was served in the lounge at the buffet station. That consisted of English muffins, toast or bagels that you could toast yourself, a variety of dry cereal, one hot cereal such as oatmeal or cream of wheat, yogurt and a few different breakfast pastries served along with a beautiful platter of fresh cantaloupe, honeydew melon and pineapple. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate were available 24/7 near the bar. A more “hearty” breakfast was served in the dining room where you could get an omelet, waffles and the like.

In addition to a full lunch served in the dining room every day, a lighter fare was also offered in the lounge at the buffet station. There was always some sort of meat carving from roast beef or turkey to corned beef and pork. In addition, there was always a green salad with three types of dressings as well as a special salad such as a Caesar or Waldorf salad. Along with hot soup, there were also platters of quarter size sandwiches. Warm, homemade cookies were put out every afternoon around 3:00 on the bar for anyone wanting a snack.

Happy Hour began at 5:30 p.m. every afternoon with hor’sdeouvres brought around by the wait staff.
Dinner was served at either 6:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. depending on our schedule for the day. Even though dinner was “casual”¸ the tables were set with white linens, china and crystal along with a bud vase with fresh flowers in the center. You had a choice of four entrées for dinner (fish, chicken, meat or vegetarian), two choices of salads and one special desert like peach cobbler or chocolate or vanilla ice cream and a mango sorbet.

Nonetheless, at about 7:00 p.m. on August 15, 2010 the lines were tossed from the dock in Juneau and our journey through the Inside Passage began. As we left port the skies to our north glowed with a brilliant sunset of pinks on the lofty clouds in the sky. We were on our way!

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE NO. 1

CRUISE WEST TRAVELOGUE No. 1

SPIRIT OF YORKTOWN

GOLD RUSH INSIDE PASSAGE – JUNEAU TO SEATTLE

August 15, 2010 to August 25, 2010

Pre-cruise in Juneau

We flew from San Diego to Juneau on August 12, 2010 (three days pre-cruise) in hopes of being able to explore Juneau a bit more than we have been able to do on past cruises. Our weather could not have been better. We had clear skies and 75 degree weather. It was spectacular in every sense of the word.

After we dropped off our bags and checked into our room, we headed out for a bite of lunch and then a trek out to Mendenhall Glacier. We enjoyed some halibut fish tacos outside on the deck at The Hangar. The Hangar is a small building that houses several restaurants and boutique shops along with Wings Alaska which is where we took our float plane trip out of last month. Around the corner is Marine Park, dedicated to the gold miners. There is a very large octagonal cover made of huge wooden timbers and concrete bench type seats underneath. It provides much shade and a nice resting place after walking the city.

The city bus system in Juneau only costs $1.50 to ride from downtown Juneau out to the drop off point at Mendenhall Glacier; so we decided to give that a try rather than do an organized tour. The bus is a regular city bus with many stops as you pass through town. After about 30 minutes we were dropped off on Glacier Loop Road where we began our hike into the glacier. On the surface, a mile and a half did not seem that far – but believe me – this was a l-o-n-g hike in to get to the glacier. There is a paved walking path along the road to keep you out of harms’ way of the oncoming cars. We passed thick, dense forest with the ground covered with several different kinds of moss. Not only was it growing out of the dead trees on the ground, but it was also hanging from the trees above.

We trekked over a small bridge with crystal clear mountain water and red salmon spawning and swimming upstream. As we walked on, we came across a small pond of standing water with barren grey tree trunks standing in the water. In the distance, however, was the beautiful Mendenhall Glacier. The water in the small pond was so still that it was mirror-like; and the reflections were unbelievable.

Once we finally arrived at the entrance to Mendenhall Glacier, we found a small nature trail that is built of wooden planks over the babbling brook below. The salmon were swimming upstream, splashing and jumping up through the incline of the stream. The walkway has short wire sides with wooden top rails for your safety. This is bear country. Although there are 17 bears that live in the area when the salmon are spawning, we did not see any of them.

As you walk through this area, there are several places where you have spectacular views of the glacier itself.
Mendenhall Glacier is the only known glacier to be within city limits in the United States. It is part of the Juneau ice field and a very popular destination. There is a beautiful round visitors’ center above that offers several exhibits and a nice movie about the glacier and how it has receded.

We grabbed a taxi back to town and walked around a bit before stopping for a hamburger at The Mesa Grill. The Mesa Grill is a little orange shack on a side street just up from Broadway (the main street in Juneau). The wooden building is painted orange and a Tlingit Indian woman owns it. She told us that she used to have an actual building that was burned down several years ago. She was told she had to build another building to replace it; but she chose to go smaller and build this small shack instead to cut her expenses. She specializes in grilling Angus burgers, reindeer sausage and chicken kabobs. Our burgers were very tasty and quite juicy. We sat outside at a small round table and enjoyed our burger along with a local man who sat there chatting with us for a bit about the area and what there was to see and do. Our friends Mark and Debbie arrived in Juneau that evening and after meeting them in the lobby of the hotel, we all headed off to our rooms with much anticipation of what was before us in the coming days.

During our few days in Juneau we enjoyed a lot of fabulous local food. In addition to The Mesa Grill we had a delightful light lunch at Romo’s Pizza in the Hangar building where we had a piece of pizza, a small salad and a glass of thirst-quenching iced tea. We also ate at The Hangar and enjoyed some halibut fish tacos one afternoon. Another afternoon we had lunch at The Twisted Fish – which was the nicest of all of the restaurants we visited in Juneau. For breakfast we enjoyed bagels at The Silverbow Bakery and pastries one day at The Paradise Café. Dinner one evening was delicious at the Goldbelt Hotel where we stayed. We ate at their restaurant “Zen” and filled our tummies with some delicious Chinese cuisine. Another one of our favorite places to grab a bite to eat in Juneau is at Tracy’s Crab Shack next to the dock in downtown Juneau. She won Third Place for her Seafood Chowder this year on the East Coast. It is delicious!