I started the day very early with the gym again, not because I am so enthusiastic about sweating that early in the day, but rather the guilt is starting to compound with the food I’m consuming.
So after my gym stint, I hit the sports deck and run a few laps around it way up on top of the ship and had a wonderful view of the snow covered mountains that are surrounding us now. Then I did a few laps around Deck 3 to cool down. Trouble is, I went from overheated to frozen numb with about 1.75 minutes between the two states.
I showered quickly ( mostly because the water pressure is all but non-existent on a ship and I give up )and headed for the Lido restaurant for a leisurely breakfast with my Arkansas friends.
Today is Ice Day.
Cruising through Glacier Bay was spectacular. Another amazing sight that I can hardly describe and am sure no photo could do it justice.
Naturally there are probably 1300 people on board trying to prove that last statement false ( including myself) and prime photo position is hard won and politely protected.
Luckily the captain would turn the boat around 360 degrees and everyone eventually had brilliant views of everything. Looking out the window everything is white and a myriad of blue hues that defy description. All variants of that dark naval blue.
Truly a feast for the eyes.
I think I ended up on about 6 different spots to attempt that money shot. Everywhere from the bow to the stern. I experimented with the camera settings and got some brilliant shots and some real stinkers. At one point I had the white balance wrong and lots of my photos came out like they were in black and white only it was blue. At the time, I wasn’t so thrilled about that, but now, they are some of my favourite photos.
But Ohhhh… the cold.
I’ve never in my life felt so cold as I did those multiple hours wandering the decks in as many layers as was feasible for actual movement. I was freezing despite gloves and coat and thermals and uggies and more. Now you just know that I wasn’t letting that stop me. I stood there patiently waiting for that one shot that made it all worth it.
As we entered the Glacier bay area, the water around us was littered with chunks of ice, some small some not so small, like a giant margarita and lots of the gulls used them for a convenient resting place. I even saw my first whale off the stern in apparently 800 foot of frigid water - a fair way off but there was great excitement onboard as the ripple spread that it was out there.
The temperature was just bitingly cold and even my ears went numb at one point.
By lunch time we had sidled up to or sailed past several glaciers but the most spectacular was the Marjerie Glacier. It was just amazing ( and yes, I am starting to run out of superlatives) and the wait in the cold was rewarded by several smaller calving events ( chunks of ice falling off the glacier into the water) that I captured every last frame of.
In every direction there are mountains ½ covered in snow in endless rows. it’s a scene I didn’t think I’d ever be seeing with my own eyes. Even inside the ship is chilly necessitating several layers - and I’m still a little cold. I’m told its just because of the ice in Glacier Bay, and it hadn’t been this cold before this and am told that once we leave the area the temperature will rise a little again.
We’re headed south now and more that ½ way through the cruise which I can barely believe. Its going so fast.
Each night when the bed is turned down the next days daily program is left there along with information about the port you will be visiting that next day and last night, a large detailed map of the Glacier Bay area we travelled today was also there. There is also a park ranger or other naturalist who gives talks on what you might see, and today we got a narration over the PA about the Glaciers movements and such.
Everyone needed to thaw out after the time in the Glaciers and I would suspect that a lot of alcohol was used to do that as much as clothing.
It took the better part of the afternoon for my fingers to recover their feeling again.
Glacier Bay was so beautiful, but as we left its comparatively calm waters, lots of people felt the rock and roll of the ship, and there lots of people feeling under the weather. Thankfully, I didn’t have a worry at any point with seasickness but I lost count of how many people were getting around with those tiny little bandaid-like patches behind their ears.
If you want to see the photos bigger just click on the photo and it will enlarge.
No comments:
Post a Comment