Today, we arrived in Alaska. We were welcomed by winds and rain. We went up Tracy Arm to the North and South Sawyer Glaciers. Tracy Arm is a fjord, a long strip of water between mountains or cliff. Fjords are a sight to behold. The Sawyer Glaciers are tidewater glaciers, as they end in the ocean. The first thing you might notice is that the glaciers are such a fresh color of blue. This is because the air bubbles are smashed out of the glacial ice, making it more dense. This affects the way the light is absorbed and reflected by the glacier, giving it this beautiful blue color.

The journey through Tracy Arm to get to the glaciers was beautiful. It was our first real glimpse of Alaskan terrain and untouched land.

First, we visited the North Sawyer Glacier. The North Sawyer Glacier starts in British Columbia and travels 22 miles through the Coastal Mountains to Tracy Arm.

The South Sawyer Glacier is about 30 miles long. We did not see much wildlife until we got to the South Sawyer Glacier, and there were many seals playing out in front. We also we lucky to catch a calving of the glacier. That is when a chuck of ice falls into the ocean. You hear a loud crack just seconds before the ice falls. The South Sawyer Glacier calves on average 1 mile of glacier a year. We even got to hold some glacier ice before heading back to the ship.