Tracy Arm--nope, Endicott Arm

I was awake at 6 am. Knowing I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, I put on a robe and slippers, grabbed a blanket and moved out to our veranda to watch the scenery go by.. While I was sitting there I kept noticing  two while breaks in the water off in the distance. At first I thought it was just whitecaps, but decided that didn’t make any sense since the sea around us was as smooth as silk. I went back into the cabin and grabbed a pair of binoculars. Just as I brought them up to my eyes, I saw a humpback whale breeching out of the water. Spectacular!! I sat and watched two whales breeching, tail flipping, pec fin slapping for nearly half an hour. It was an amazing experience. My only regret is that I didn’t wake up Brian to see them, too. 

After the whales had moved on out of sight, I sat and read my book for about an hour. The weather has been surprisingly pleasant, unlike what had been predicted, so it was very nice just enjoying the morning on our deck. 


                                               From our deck. The water is so smooth!

                                 
It was announced that Tracy Arm was too icy for our ship to cruise today, so we navigated the channel just to the south, the Endicott Arm.  We were definitely not disappointed with Endicott Arm and the Dawes Glacier! It was simply awe inspiring. The combination of the azure water, stunning rocks, sub-alpine vegetation, dozens of waterfalls, and, of course, the drifting blue ice was thrilling! It was an absolutely gorgeous day of stunning scenery from beginning to end. In fact, I ended up with a bit of a sunburn. Ha!


                                                                 Beauty in every direction

                                                                           Glacier

Up close

These rock faces were amazing

Small Iceberg

One of the cool things that the ship’s crew does is open up the bow of the ship (which is normally off limits) so passengers can view the glaciers and scenery from there. It’s a fun experience. We spent a long time there watching the beauty of Alaska as we sailed by. I’m a BIG fan of mountains and certainly got a big dose of them this day. Beautiful!

                                                                 On the ship's bow

Windy on the top deck

We sailed up the arm to Dawes Glacier where we spent an hour just sitting about a mile away. There was some calving while we were there, which is always a bit exciting. This glacier is 25 miles long and 1/2 mile wide and 175 feet tall at the face. It was named after Calvin Coolidge's Vice President who is famous for the Dawe's Plan which dealt with reparations after World War I. 

                                                                   Dawes Glacier

We did go into the enclosed viewing area, known as the Crow’s Nest, for a while. We had some sodas and were served some Dutch split pea soup, which is always served on glacier days. Yummy! Almost as good as my own homemade pea soup. 


                                       Another ship entering the arm as we were leaving

This was another nice “sea day” in effect. We had a relaxed, restful day reading, eating, scenery watching.

Dinner this evening was in the Pinnacle Grill. It is a 'specialty' restaurant with an extra charge above the cruise cost. We always enjoy having at least one dinner here on our cruise. Brian enjoyed a nice Filet Mignon with all the fixins and I had crab legs. We both had Chocolate Avalanche Cake for dessert. SO good!

After dinner, we spent some time in the hot tub on the Lido Deck. So nice and the area was nearly deserted, so it was quiet and peaceful. A nice way to end the day.