Alaska Cruise 2017: Part Four – Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier

by Michael

It is hard to believe that here on day 4 of the cruise, it is already half over. As usually happens on a vacation, time seems to have sped up when all you really want it to do is slow down. That said, we are ready to make our first port of call in Juneau Alaska! We are looking forward to this stop because we booked a photography excursion with a local company that will lead us to the Mendenhall Glacier as well as taking us out on a smaller boat to look for whales!

We disembark the ship and head for land. First day on solid land in a few days does seem a little strange. Nothing is swaying anymore. And do you see that big water slide on the top deck of the ship? I don’t remember ever seeing anyone use it this trip, though there were a few people in the hot tubs from time to time. But since this same ship is also used for Hawaii cruises as well, I’m sure it gets used plenty then.

Our excursion was called “Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari” and was ran by Gastineau Guiding. Our tour guides were Andy and Tawny and both were very knowledgeable about the area, flora and fauna, as well as the photography aspects of the tour.

First, the led us through the “Trail of Time” which had very interesting flora. I don’t remember all the names of the plants, but they were very interesting.

This one I do remember as being called “Old Man’s Beard“. This is a type of Spanish Moss like we have around here in east Texas. This is just a little sprig of it but it grows into large clumps that hang from the trees.

Karen reminded me that this one is called “Devil’s Club“. The guides told us to be careful and not grab it if you start to fall! Those little points are sharp!

The area gets plenty of rain, as evidenced by all of the moss growing on everything.

And of course, there are plenty of small waterfalls coming down the sides of the mountains from all of the melting ice this time of year. Spring has arrived!

The trail is called the “Trail of Time”. At several points along the way they have markers like this one with dates. These dates are showing where the glacier was on that particular year. In 1920 this rock was under ice. Now you can see that as the ice has receded, life has taken over thanks to all of the sediment that it left behind.

As we near the glacier (still a ways off) there is a large waterfall. This is “Nugget Falls“. The water is coming from Nugget Glacier which is way up in the mountains to the east. Note the very small people at the bottom to get a feel for the size!

And finally, Mendenhall Glacier! Glaciers are created when the snow fall is faster than the snow melt. As the weight build, the snow and ice gets packed more and more dense and then it begins scrubbing its way down the mountain, grinding rocks into dirt and carving those “U” shaped valleys and fjords. The dark streaks you see are mineral deposits from that scrubbing which will be deposited downstream providing places for moss, grass, and then trees to grow.

A close up view of the ice and sediment. Again, you can see that blue color showing how dense that ice has become from all of the weight.

As with the other glacier, they are moving things and as they reach the terminus chunks break off and become icebergs. Here a small group is exploring the area giving you a sense of the size of some of these ice-chunks! Remember, only 10% is visible.

Here is another shot of Nugget Fallas. Again, those little dots at the bottom are people.

This is Andy, our guide. He was a great source of information while leading us on the entire tour. Being a photo tour, he not only had knowledge of the local area and the attractions, he was also there to answer any photo questions anyone might bring up. He had an analogy about a photography that I had never heard and thought was very helpful. He said that a photo is like a cheeseburger. The top bun is your background, the bottom bun is your foreground and the meat is your subject. The cheese? That’s the light. I’m going to be using this in the future! Thanks Andy!

At over a mile away, the glacier is still huge! The people were maybe an eighth of a mile from us.

Andy was even nice enough to take our photo together.

As we were leaving the area we spotted this quiet scene and reflection.

And yet another waterfall coming down the side of the mountain.

And as we were boarding the bus to head to the water portion of our tour, I spotted this young bald eagle fly over and land in a tree. I maneuvered to try and get a clear shot while the others were boarding the bus. When Andy asked about the missing person Karen mentioned, “That would be my husband. He’s chasing a bald eagle. I’m used to it by now.”

Once we boarded the boat and headed out into the bay, it didn’t take too long before we saw signs of humpback whales. This one popped up pretty close to the boat, but then went for a deep dive not to be seen again. We were told up front that the whales would be spotty because they were just arriving in the area from their migration at this time of year. However, they would not be the only wildlife in the water today.

In the bay was this island and lighthouse. I thought it made for a picturesque scene, especially with the bald eagle flying in from the right. As you can tell, it was very cloudy for our day in Juneau. In fact it did rain off and on during the day while we were on the boat, but nothing bad. Still very thankful for the weather during this trip.

I was able to zoom in just in time for the bald eagle to touch down on the small island.

As we surveyed the area, suddenly the boat captain headed towards a new area. As we approached this buoy, it became clear what he was excited about. Soon, we were excited as well!

These are Stellar Sea Lions. The difference between sea lions and seals are small, but easy to recognize once you learn. Sea lions have small flaps over their ear holes whereas seals have none. Sea lions also have longer flippers which they can use to “walk” where seals have shorter flippers and do more sliding around. Here is a link that shows the difference <<here>>.  Most of these were asleep, but this one watched as we circled the buoy a few times.

These guys were so cute. With both the subject and my platform (boat) were moving quite a bit, I was shooting in burst mode just to get a few clear shots. I learned that shooting from a boat on bumpy water is challenging!

It must have been nap time because they didn’t appear bothered by our presence at all.

Lots of interesting points about Juneau, too many to bore you with here, but as the capital of Alaska, the city is pretty remote. The most interesting fact I learned is that there are no roads that lead into town. You can’t drive there! We found this sign in downtown showing how far we were from multiple places on the earth.

And Karen snagged this bald eagle while we were in town. They were around, but we weren’t overwhelmed by eagles like people had told us. We had heard stories that eagles were as prevalent in Alaska as grackles were in Dallas. Not quite, but we were still excited to see them when we could. Perhaps again this had to do with the time or year.

After a full day exploring Juneau, we made our way back to the ship for dinner and unloading the images to my laptop and backup hard drive. Once more we were greeted with another towel creature.

We were still getting accustomed to the three hour time shift but were getting there slowly. Day 5 would be another day on ground as we visit Skagway Alaska!

All words and photos copyright 2017 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 7DmII, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses

Alaska Cruise 2017: Part Three – The Fjord

by Michael

On the schedule for this day was the Tracy Arm Fjord. This was the only cruise that Karen saw when she was researching that took this side trip, so we were very anxious as to what we were going to see this day.

The day started out early. Sunrise here was earlier that we were used to in Texas, and the time was 3 hours behind, so when we woke up around 7am Texas time, it was really 4am Alaska time. And having a balcony with the curtains open meant that as soon as the sun began to rise, we were up as well. But it did mean that we got to witness this sunrise!

And as we were watching the sun rise over the horizon, we noticed something in the water, right off our balcony. Did you see it in the middle of the photo? Let’s take another photo and zoom in!

Yep, that’s the dorsal fin of a humpback whale swimming along side our ship. We learned that this is the time of year that they are migrating from Hawaii back to Alaska. They go to Hawaii to mate and give birth and then return to Alaska to eat and bulk up in order to start the cycle over. As one guide put it, Alaska is their kitchen and Hawaii is their bedroom. The whale was along side us for a short while, enough to get a few more shots before it slipped back into the darkness of the water.

As we continued to the fjord the mountains began to rise higher and higher against us. They were truly magnificent and humbling, realizing that even on this very large ship, we are tiny in nature.

This part of the world gets a lot of rain. We were fortunate that for the most part it was simply overcast and we got very little actual rain the entire trip.

The clouds however created for very dramatic skies. The on-board biologist explained to us that the fjords were created as the glaciers pushed their way across the land, carving out these “U” shaped valleys. “V” shaped valleys were caused by rushing water, such as the Grand Canyon. One way to tell just how deep the glacier ice was is to look at the mountain peaks. If they are rounded, they were likely covered and smoothed by the glacier. If they are jagged the ice did not cover them. But looking at the height of the mountains it is staggering to think of that much ice being that deep!

The mountains are so tall that they create their own weather patterns. You can judge, by looking at the very large trees in the foreground, just how immense the mountains are. Considering it is several miles from the shoreline to the top of the mountain…well, you can just let your mind run wild trying to calculate that distance. Another shot for scale. Here you can see a five story lighthouse in the foreground, dwarfed by the landscape!

As we arrived at the entrance of the Tracy Arm Fjord, our ship met with the “pilot” who would be responsible for directing the ship through the narrow passage. We were informed that because of the ice flows, we would not be allowed into the Tracy Arm today, but not to worry, there is another fjord that we would be able to explore. While somewhat disappointing, we were happy we would not miss out altogether. We make our way through passages which at first glance don’t look like a place you would take a 44 ton cruise ship.

And then we notice that we are not alone. The humpbacks are in the area as well. They like the fjords because the narrow passages makes it easier for them to scoop up food. The narrower the fjord, the more dense the food they like to eat. It makes their hunting much easier. And when you are trying to gain weight, you want as little exertion as possible.

Another interesting fact about the humpback whales is that the patterns on their tail are as unique to each whale as a human’s fingerprint. Photos like this one are used to track the whales between Alaska and Hawaii on their migration tour.

As we get closer, you can see where, what I would have previously considered a glacier, was sliding down the side of the mountain. After what I will be seeing soon, that’s just a bunch of snow and ice.

As we approach the entrance to the fjord (Endicott Arm according to Google), we begin to see icebergs floating in the water. Two things to notice about the icebergs. First is that their dark blue color comes from the fact that they are so dense the longer red light waves are unable to be reflected from the ice, leaving only the shorter blue light waves. And second, only ten percent of the iceberg is visible. Meaning that 90% of the ice is obscured beneath the water. Remember the Titanic? We proceed slowly…

Some people have paid for an off-ship excursion to get an up-close look at the glacier. I give you this photo of their boat as a reference for later. Notice the size as it pulls along side of our ship. It is a three story boat. Not small by any means.

As we enter the fjord, another amazing sight is all of the little waterfalls running down the walls of the valley. Pure mountain water, direct from the source. I bet is is refreshing!

Turn about is fair play. Karen catches me in her lens. Yes, it was much colder here, especially as the wind was whipping down through the fjord from the glacial ice ahead. On a side note, I did not pack gloves because I was expecting temps in the 50s. Luckily I found a very nice pair of ladies leather gloves that fit me perfectly in the ship’s store. I’m not proud. They were warm.

More icebergs. We are getting closer. We traveled about 33 files from the opening of the fjord to the glacier.

Excitement is building on the ship as everyone rushes to the bow of the ship. We tried to get there but it was just too crowded. But we were already told that the captain would be turning the ship so that everyone would be able to see the glacier, so we stayed put on the top deck.

And finally, the glacier! This one is named “Dawes Glacier” and now you see the difference from what I previously referred to as a glacier. But from this distance, it doesn’t look all that big. Just wait.

But first, what is this off the starboard side? Riding along on an iceberg is a group of seals! Harbor Seals I believe.

They remain on the ice as we get closer, until finally one by one they begin to slip off into the water.

Until finally, there was only one left. It really looked like it didn’t want to get into the water and would rather we just went away.

But finally, it did slip into the water along with the others, and we turned our attention to the massive glacier. Now, remember the photo of the excursion vessel from before? It is a three story ship. Not a small ship. You can notice it up close to the glacier in the lower left of this photo! There are actually two ships there now. That little dark spot is a ship!

Glaciers are not static objects, but rather moving rivers of ice. As the ice reaches the termination point, which is here, the ice begins to break off, or calve, which is what creates all the icebergs in the water. When this happens there is a large splash. We were lucky enough to capture this happening here. Remember, that splash is also several stories high! Nothing is small here.

Here is another shot of the excursion boats close to the glacier. For showing scale we zoomed in a bit more. And what looks like tire tracks on the top of the glacier is actually ground up parts of the mountain which is being carried away by the ice. By doing this the glacier turns rock into dirt which will then be deposited in a place where later life will spring forth. The design of nature is truly spectacular!

Some people however decided to bypass the cold and observer nature in comfort inside the ship. This gentleman was watching from indoors on the lido deck. Yes, we were eating again.  🙂

What a day! After spending a couple of hours here, it was time for the ship to leave the fjord and head for tomorrow’s destination, Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier! But, as Carnival likes to do, this was waiting for us back in our stateroom. Just how many different ways can you fold a towel?

No sunset tonight as we were between the mountains of the valley. So that’s it for today. I’ll be back in a few days with part four! Still have lots of photos to sort through!

All words and photos copyright 2017 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 7DmII, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses

Alaska Cruise 2017: Part Two – A Day at Sea

by Michael

The vacation started off great, and kept getting greaterer (sic). Yes, I said greaterer! Neither Karen nor I had any trouble adjusting to life on board a ship. No seasickness. No falling down trying to gain our sea legs. This was great. And our first full day at sea would be no different. While there were not a lot of opportunities for my kind of photography on this day, there was plenty to do, and eat, and see, and eat, and eat. Did I mention there was plenty to eat? You’ve probably heard that there is food 24/7 on a cruise ship. To quote Han Solo, “It’s true. All of it.”

Our view for the day varied little since we were at sea all day.  Most of the time it was just open ocean, as far as you could see.

But we were able to catch occasional glimpses of land off the starboard bow (that’s the right side) of the ship. If I’m reading the map right (my camera tags my photos with GPS coordinates), this is Triangle Island, and it was about 20-25 miles away. That gives you an idea of how distance can fool you at sea!

The day at sea gave us plenty of time to explore the ship. And according to our exercise bands, we did a lot of that. Not quite as much walking as we did in Vancouver, but we did plenty considering our limited distance. The Legend is only 963 feet long. Of course, there are stairs between decks.

As I mentioned, we were aboard the Carnival Legend. Weighing in at over 44 tons, it is easy to see why our ride was so smooth. Even with the waves were up, it was just a gentle swaying back and forth that actually aided in sleeping at night. And the orange and white “boats” in the photo below are the escape pods, which were built to remain afloat even if capsized. There was no fear of any tragedy on this trip!

All Carnival ships have the distinctive “winged” smoke stacks which sets them apart from all the other ships. You can know at a glance in a group of ships which one belongs to Carnival.

As you can tell from our reflection, it was quite chilly here on the open sea. Both Karen and I were sufficiently bundled up to remain warm.

While we did have cloudy skies, the breaks showed us the beautiful blue skies were just behind them.

As I mentioned in the previous post, while not the best type of vacation for pure wildlife photography, wildlife was spotted several times. Though not quite as close as we would like for really good photographs. For instance, that puff of white on the left of this photo is from the blowhole of a surfacing humpback whale. We did get to see them closer a couple of times during the trip, but never got to see one breach up out of the water like you see on television. Apparently they do that more in mating season, which was not now.

Another example, here is a pod of either seals or sea lions. I think the on-board biologist said that they were Steller sea lions. But again, too far away for any really great photos.

And while you may not expect to see birds this far away from land, these guys were seen “running” across the surface of the water several times during the cruise. Again, too far away for a good identification, but an interesting bird nonetheless.

That was pretty much it for this day, other than the walking and, did I mention there was plenty to eat? As we neared the end of the day we make our way to the deck to watch the sun set over the horizon. When we first got on deck, the sky still had plenty of blue.

But as the sun neared the horizon, the color began changing to the red/orange/yellow that we saw on our first evening aboard.

Which gave me time to photography my favorite subject…

Just before the last of the sun dropped into the ocean.

Then it was off to dinner (did I mention all the food?) and then a return to our stateroom and another towel creation. This one held a couple of gift cards to help celebrate our 25 years of marriage!

Then it was time for bed to rest up for the Tracy Arm Fjord tomorrow. What a beautiful sight that was! Stay tuned for day 3, coming soon!

All words and photos copyright 2017 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 7DmII, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses