Glacier bay is widely touted to be a sight to see. And indeed it was.

The ship sailed out overnight from Juneau City northwards towards Glacier Bay. We went to bed late last night and I didn't expect to be up until later in the day (for me that means 8 in the morning). But I woke up quite early because the daylight. Unbelievably it was light at 4:30 in the morning. But then I shouldn't have been surprised. We were at a latitude of approximately 57 degrees North. And it was May (almost June – which is when we get the longest day in these northern latitudes).

In any case, I looked out on the Verandah and it was an amazingly picturesque sight! There was mountainous islands whose tops were obscured by fog (or maybe clouds—hard to say).

I went back to bed, but was back up by 6:15 when our attendant knocked on the door with breakfast for Sandhya and me.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and stood in front of the verandah doors of our stateroom. I savored the scenery. Here is a sample of what I saw when I looked out.

 
Of course, there will be those who'll complain that this is a cloudy day. Au contraire, this was picture perfect. Coffee in hand and a sight such as this. And we were just entering Glacier bay—not there yet! I slowly sipped my coffee as I watched the island go by. The ships are required, by the Forest Service, to leave no wake in these waters in order to not disturb the marine life. I poured myself a second and there were a couple more of such sights.

I wolfed down my breakfast while watching the scenery and did my my SSS's (for those who don't know what this is-- Sh**t, Shave and Shower). Of course, I took my time doing this and then nudged Sandhya awake. I must confess, I left her only about a ½ hour to get ready. As they say in India, I pressurized her into getting ready quickly. She did get ready in about 45 minutes and we were off the the bow to hear the narrative from the coast guard and hear and view the Glacier. I say hear, because when pieces of ice from Glaciers fall into the water, they make a tremendous thundering sound and then you can hear the splash of the ice and snow into the water.

I was bundled up. But not Sandhya. Any one who knows Sandhya shouldn't be surprised.

Me

Sandhya

It was cold and windy but the scenery was absolutely spectacular. We entered Glacier Bay through the --- straights and headed north towards the Margerie and --- glaciers. The entire Bay is surrounded by glacier topped mountainous islands. Take a look at some of these photos.

We finally arrived at Margerie Glacier. The glacier is around 250 ft tall from the surface of the water. We were told that around 100 ft of the Glacier is below the surface. The glacier is obviously active. Ice and snow blocks frequently peel of the surface and fall into the water. We could see that the water approaching the glacier was full of small icebergs. The glacier ice has a distinct blue color. The rock that has been gouged by the glacier on its way down the valley is stuck to the side of the glacier as the dark, black portion. The other glacier is directly to the north end of the bay is --- glacier. It doesn't have the typical blue color because it is covered by rock; that gives it a black color obscuring the blue color.

We headed back out of Glacier Bay, heading south on to our next destination—Sitka.
Sandhya and I got back to the warmth of indoors. After taking a short nap, we headed out for dinner followed by some great live music. We got some dancing in too. Ended the evening late, listening (again) to fabulous piano music by Glenn-Michael.