Tracy Arm

After our first day at sea was completed, the next day was a scenic cruising day through Tracy Arm.  Tracy Arm is a fjord which houses 2 glaciers:  North and South Sawyer glaciers.  We were told that due to current weather conditions, there was almost no chance of reaching the actual glaciers (too much ice for the cruise ship to get past) but the rest of the cruising would be scenic anyways.  And wow, was it!  It actually coincided well with the kids' naptimes, so Eric and I were able to spend almost three hours reveling in the majestic creation before us.

It was probably one of those situations where you start taking pictures immediately, because everything is so beautiful, and then the further in you go, the better it gets, so you end up with over 100 pictures. :)  Here is the beginning of Tracy Arm, with waterfalls EVERYWHERE.

 Eric and his sister Mariah up on deck.

 Eric's parents got an oceanview room with a window, and it was great to be able to see the beauty around us even while taking our turn listening for the napping kids.

 One of the fun features was all the pieces of glacial ice floating around the boat.  The closer we got to the glaciers, the more ice we saw and also the bigger the pieces.  This was a fun "arch" of ice floating along.  And the pictures don't do it justice, but the ice was all a beautiful blue.

 And then...we turned the last corner, and North Sawyer glacier appeared in front of us.  Wow!  You can see it in the cleft of the mountains above, along with Sawyer Island (featuring a nesting pair of bald eagles, one of which we saw later on).

 Here is a great shot Eric took with the glacier above and a giant ice floe right in the triangular mountain reflection.  The water was so still and pretty.  Words failed us!  Except, of course, to make a lot of Titanic jokes and references. :)