Cruising Glacier Bay National Park
Sea Gull and Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
The cruise in Glacier Bay National Park is one of the highlights of an Alaskan Cruise. The combination of ice, water, mountains, and glaciers is awesome.
Our day in Glacier Bay didn't start of great. The sky was cloudy and fog was everywhere. But the captain assured us that things would improve as we got deeper into the park.
Entering Glacier Bay National Park
Even with the fog and the clouds, the scenery was spectacular. The mountains entering the bay were covered with fall color, snow, and in some cases glaciers. The fall colors showed up as splotches of yellow among the green and brown/black of the mountain sides.
When we entered the park, a group of National Park Rangers boarded the ship. They arrived on a small boat and climbed up on a rope ladder. It was interesting to watch the boat handling skill necessary to keep the large cruise ship and the smaller boat close enough to allow the transfer and yet not collide.
While we waited to get far enough into Glacier Bay to see the glaciers, the rangers presented a very interesting program about the native peoples living in and around the park. It's great the the US National Park Service provides visitors with programs about the people .
When we finally got to where we could see the glaciers in Glacier Bay, the captain slowed the ship, and allowed us to enter the forward area of the ship. This provided great views of Glacier Bay National Park. It often hard to decide which side of the ship we should be on the get the best view. It really didn't matter because the views from both sides were wonderful.
The one downside for me was that I missed the calving of one of the glaciers. I picked the wrong time to go back into the ship to change lens on my camera.
After a wonderful time viewing the glaciers, we were required to leave the bow of the ship. The rangers' boat met the ship, and they descended down ladder.
alt="Mountain side showing fall color in Glacier Bay National Park">
Fall color in Glacier Bay National Park
Boat carrying national park rangers away from cruise ship, Zaandam