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UN-CRUISE Blog  filter by tag: Glacier

A Bluebird Day

By Jeremy, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Explorer

Wow! What a day. Five years as a guide in Glacier Bay National Park and 12 years guiding in Alaska and southeast Alaska still takes my breath away. Today I woke up to one of the few bluebird days that we have had this summer and guided an all-day kayak in Muir Inlet in the east arm of Glacier Bay National Park.

The Best Of...the Wilderness Explorer's Inaugural Season

By Julie, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Explorer

As the Wilderness Explorer winds down her inaugural season here cruising the Northern Passages and Glacier Bay, I decided to ask my fellow crew members to share some of their fondest memories of the summer for this week’s blog post.

Foggy Adventures in Glacier Bay

By Jackie Hedgpeth, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Explorer

Our day of adventure began with peaceful whale watching in Dundas Bay inside Glacier Bay National Park. The weather was cloudy, and as we entered the bay a low, thick fog blanketed the water making it necessary to reduce speed and blow the fog horn regularly. Everyone commented on the thick fog, and the inability to see the water or low level landscape. We could see clearly the mountain sides and peaks but nothing below shrouded in the fog.

The Wilderness Explorer hiding in the fog

White Thunder

By Melina Coogan, Expedition Guide, Safari Endeavour

Nothing on this journey through the inside passage makes me tachychardic like the awesomeness that is Dawes Glacier. She is huge, massive, blue beyond belief, and before her our small boat tours are dwarfed to mere dots. For miles and miles our driver shimmies the inflatable boats through hunks of ice, trying to avoid not only the potentially propeller-bending bergs but also the pieces where the seals lay, sunning with their pups. It is no easy task for the small boat captains.

A Day in the Life...of a Wellness Instructor

By Chella, Wellness Instructor, Wilderness Discoverer

 
Mornings are a favorite time for me here onboard the Wilderness Discoverer.  Each day begins with a brisk hop up the stairs from my bunk below, to peak around the corner and see if the sky is offering liquid sunshine (aka rain), or the real deal.

Bears at Reid Glacier

By Brooke Freed, guest, Safari Endeavor (July 1-8)

We recently returned from our trip on American Safari Cruises’ Safari Endeavor, and when I tell people we were on an “Alaska cruise” I don’t feel like those words do it justice.  I also have to follow up with: “And there were just 60 people on our boat”. Not only was the group small, but the entire experience was up close and personal.

Cruising with the Park Reindeer

By Brock Munson, expedition leader, Safari Quest

It was day five on board the Safari Quest, the eve of our journey into Glacier Bay National Park. As I do each and every night, I made an announcement of our itinerary for the next day to the passengers as they were enjoying their evening dessert. It was a fun, high-energy group throughout the week, at times focused, other times boisterous, but always very inquisitive. They all got along with each other quickly and became friends immediately after embarkation.

“We will be entering Glacier Bay very early in the morning,” I said. “At 7AM we will be making a brief stop at Bartlett Cove, the headquarters of the National Park, to pick up a Park Ranger who will be onboard for the next day and a half.

Putting the “Wild” in Wilderness

By Hannah Hindley, Wilderness Explorer

Our maiden voyage into Glacier Bay aboard the Wilderness Explorer lived up to our vessel’s name--it was both exploratory and wild. We certainly felt like genuine explorers as we tested the limits and possibilities of this new boat on her new route.

And wild? We pulled past heavy brown bears foraging along the shoreline, watched arctic terns wheel among the spray and thunder of calving glaciers, lifted mammoth, dripping, sunflower stars from the sea floor, and steered our kayaks among otters, playful sea lions, and the distant sound of humpback breath.

Timber wolf