Cruising

Valdez, Alaska.  On the Prince William Sound.  Probably the most famous (notorious) Alaskan body of water in this generation. Here I w as, and there it was, so I just had to find a way to get out there. There is so much to explore on the water. So after some research, I found a 6 ½ hour cruise on the sound to Columbia Glacier and signed up. About 30 or 40 people were waiting to board along with me, and it was a good sized boat, so there would be plenty of room to move around and to see the sights.I even met a woman who was also by herself, and we spent the day together -- always fun to share experiences with someone, even if it is a brand new friend!

And what sights they were! It started with a good look back at the Valdez harbor, with the mountains almost all in view (there was a layer of clouds at the top of the mountains that never did clear up, but mostly it was a nice day). What a sight – all those boats, and the town behind it. And the mountains, so majestic coming up right out of the water.  My favorite part is those little islands that are scattered all along the coast – they are so picturesque.

Valdez

First up was the porpoises, who came to play right under the bow of the boat. It seems they love to ride there – the captain and guide described it as riding downhill on your bicycle!  Every once in a while they would leap to the side and out of the water (maybe putting on the brakes a little?!!) then back they would go. Talk about hanging over the side – I had my arms around the railing so that I wouldn't go farther than was safe, but managed a few good photos. 

A little further along, we came upon a sea lion haul out – a place where they go to rest a bit. These looked more like meal worms to me than seals, but on closer look, it was more obvious. Plus, the sounds they made were just amazing; groans, moans, barks…and they kept trying to push each other out of the way. One of them looked to me just like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars – I'm sure that's where George Lucas got his inspiration for that character!

As we got into Columbia Bay, you could see lots of floating ice; some of it was pretty big, and they were often close together. The bigger pieces are hung up on moraine, which is below the water line. That tells you how big those suckers are, because only 10% of the ice is showing above the water. We got closer and closer, and the ice pieces got thicker and thicker, and finally the captain said that was enough – so we turned around to go back. We were still about 5 miles from the mouth of the glacier, but there was too much ice for safety.  Even so, as we moved along you could hear the ice hitting the hull of the boat.

Columbia Glacier

ON the way back, we passed this group of Stellar sea lions resting on a navigation aid. It was so funny to watch them, and the ones in the water who wanted a place on the buoy. You could almost hear them whining "please, if you just move over a little there will be room for me", or "it's my turn, you've been there for a long time"!!

All in all, a most successful day, made even more so because I decided that I was just too tired to cook, and went out for dinner (only the second time on this whole trip) and had halibut!!  Oh, my, that is good fish. I'm going to have to try to find some and learn how to cook it, because it is truly delicious! The perfect end to a really good day!!

That's me, a very happy camper!!