Tracy Arm
The National Geographic Sea Lion left the port of Juneau at approximately midnight-thirty...in the darkness of late summer, she made her way 42 nautical miles through Stephens Passage to reach Holkham Bay and the entrance to Tracy Arm, one of two deep fjords that cut into the mainland of Southeast Alaska and the Coastal Mountain Range. Tracy Arm runs 30 miles slightly north and east from Holkham Bay to the faces of North Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers, located a short 20 miles from the Canadian border! During the early morning hours the Sea Lion dropped her anchor in Williams Cove, a small inlet in Holkham Bay. We would be spending the morning exploring the coastal temperate rainforest and the protected waters of Williams Cove, which provided safe waters for our first kayaking and Zodiac cruises.
A large group of long hikers were taken to the deep end of Williams Cove to explore a small section of rainforest and climb a short distance into a muskeg (bog). Once hikers were all ashore, we were divided into three groups and slowly, dancing through rain drops, moved from the grey-on-grey of the sea’s edge and into the shades of the green that make up a temperate rainforest. The outer edges of the forest were populated with abundant stands of Sitka spruce and Sitka alder; trees that are use to abundant sunshine, when that occurs here in Southeast Alaska! The shoreline was littered with mussel shells and many species of algae, gradually moving into plants tolerant to an environment situated near saltwater.
The forest changed rapidly and as we all walked under the canopy of protective trees we entered a quiet, peaceful and majestic forest, comprised largely of western hemlocks and sparsely spaced Sitka spruce. The understory of the forest was many leveled and full of color! From the blue-greens to vivid greens to the bright orange of a shelf fungus called “chicken of the forest.” As we looked to the nurse trees and ground we found myriad lichens and mat-forming plants, diverse in shape, size and color.
Climbing up through the forest towards what appeared to be a much lighter section of forest, we found ourselves in a muskeg. The elevation climb put all our hiking groups in the clouds...the clouds were hanging in the forest and our short uphill hike placed us all in a bog, walking in very wet ground conditions and the air matched with clouds on the ground all around us. After exploring the open area of the bog we returned back down through the forest and to the beach, where the rain had continued to wash down from bog to forest to the beach and the saltwater of Williams Cove.
The rest of the morning was open to both kayaking and Zodiac tours. Both activities gave a wonderful vantage point for watching the ever-changing world of a tiny protected bay which is a significant part of Southeast Alaska; often called “the land of a thousand islands”...a place where waters from the Pacific Ocean pour in and out every six hours...bringing nutrient-rich waters in and around bays and islands, adding one of many components that make up a rich and diverse environment.
Late summer brings the return of salmon to the small streams in Williams Cove...northwestern crows and bald eagles were there to catch the leavings from the harvest of salmon by brown bears. Wolf scat had been found, and human beings were there in the main passages of Southeast Alaska, all present to harvest the salmon which return every year to spawn in these waters. All too soon it was time to return to the Sea Lion and begin our journey towards our afternoon destination of North Sawyer Glacier at the head of Tracy Arm.
As soon as lunch was finished, a presentation provided an introduction to photography in the forward lounge. Helpful hints were given to increase our use of our digital cameras and learn to make the most of the sometimes difficult light of Southeast Alaska and produce memorable images of our journey.
In the late afternoon the National Geographic Sea Lion stopped a short distance from the face of North Sawyer Glacier. Zodiacs were launched and we were divided into two groups to take an hour to make our way close to the face of this glacier in the hopes of watching calving (when small and large pieces of ice cascade from the face of the glacier). “White thunder,” the sound of those pieces as they tumble down into the sea...small and large calving continued for the two hours we remained at the glacial face. Icebergs in the water close to the face rolled and turned as their weights changed and shifted...our world went from shades of green washed in rain to shades of ice blue washed in rain...the mystery and magic of the northwest coast only offering a glimpse of what we all hoped would be revealed in the next days.
