Friendship is a beautiful thing.
We spent two days at Glacier Bay National Park, our 31st National Park. We don’t have some lofty goal of visiting all 63. We go to one if it’s in the area of our travels. Heck, we haven’t even visited all of them in California.
Glacier Bay, of course is beautiful, even more so than the other parts of Alaska we cruised through. The National Park has a bunch of special rules, all for the protection of the wildlife and environment. Only two ships per day are allowed, and one of them is usually Holland America. There’s speed restrictions in whale waters and vessels must maintain a distance of at least a quarter nautical mile from humpback whales. Additionally, vessels are prohibited from altering course or speed to reduce the distance between the vessel and a whale if already within a half nautical mile. And a ship can only have one skiff out at a time. So on our last day there was only a morning adventure.
If you know Amelia you’ll believe this, she was the life of the ship. The hotel manager said she wasn’t supposed to tell passengers who the crew favorites were, but she told us, and hands down it was Amelia.
The 64 passengers were an interesting mix. We had a couple from Germany and another from Great Britain. Folks from all over the United States, from Rhode Island to California. Interestingly enough Idaho and Colorado seemed over represented. The age range was preteen to an 84 year old stud. There were honeymooners and couples celebrating anniversaries. A lot of the wives were younger, with a bigger age difference than our 8 years.
We really connected with a lot of people. I’m guessing it’s because of the shared sense of adventure and active lifestyles. My favorite story is a 50 year old from Ohio on her honeymoon. She had never seen or been in the ocean until this trip. And she did the polar plunge! Now that’s a tale she can tell!
The shoreline of the Gloomy Knob hike.
Gloomy Knob was a steep slippery hike.
Tony found a fossilized snail.
We hiked through this slot.
Magnificent views
Laurel, our sweet, high energy guide with an infectious personality.
A great hiking group. L to R: Steve & Amanda from Eagle, Idaho. Cooper, his chick Bryce, Dwayne, Laurel, and Kendall, the wonderful family from Colorado. Amelia, Dianni, Tony, and myself.
Be careful on the descent!
The river mouth bank covered in mussels.
Waiting for the skiff
Tanner, the bartender, making one of her signature drinks of the day.
The bread and butter became a thing at dinner.
A view of the bridge
Saturday, 6:30am we slowly cruised by Margerie Glacier.
Amelia and Nico on the skiff heading to Lamplugh Glacier.
The last day, we had a choice of only one adventure at Lamplugh Glacier. Kayak, shore walk, or ridge hike. We did the ridge hike. It was an awesome finish on an incredible week.
Steep, but look at that glacier!
Some scrambling required
Nootka Lupine
The payoff, John, Amelia, myself, Levi, Henry, Aidan, Nico, and Kelly.
Lamplugh Glacier is 0.9 miles wide, 165 feet high at the face, and over 19 miles long.
Henry and Amelia goofing off. You can see the ship at 9 o’clock.
Zoomed in look
Alaska Moss Heather
Year after year they’ve been seeing this marmot.
Amelia leading the hike down.
Happy girl
We got lucky and got to also do the shore walk because we had to wait for the skiff. All the kids were putting the glacial silt on like a facial. On the left are two guides, Kira and Kelly. Then you have Amelia’s compadres, brothers Aidan and Nico, and their cousin, Henry.
The icebergs were huge.
The kids were acting like the scene in A Christmas Story when Flick gets his tongue stuck on the flagpole.
Slow motion video of Aidan doing a backflip.
I love this photo
Walking to the skiff for the ride back.
Tradition is on the last day you do the polar plunge. It’s a festive event. Josh, one of the guides, donned a sequined dress and was dancing for everyone before the crew took the first plunges.
That’s Tony in the center and Dianni diving in. They were in the first passenger group to get into the freezing cold water.
No diving for me and Amelia!
How cold was it, you ask? 40 degrees!!
Amelia, Tony, and Dianni are nuts. They did it twice!
On the last night was the traditional captain’s dinner, but we didn’t have to get all dressed up. After eating, the captain called the crew up by name to cheers from all the passengers.
Amelia with three of her favorites, Zach, Tammy and A’Dreia.
The entire route
The crew lined up on the second deck and waved to all of us as we disembarked. That’s Amelia standing on the dock, looking up and waving at all of them.
Adios Alaska!
