Our first day of the trip was an impressive introduction to Alaska and had no problem living up to the trip’s name, Wild Escape. Many guests were still asleep when the expedition leader called them outside with her morning wake-up call to take in our first wildlife sighting, a humpback whale near the ship. After breakfast and some orientation briefings, we headed outside into the pristine and primordial looking landscape of Endicott Arm. At the head of this ice-strewn, 25-mile-long fjord is the Dawes Glacier, where we spent the majority of the day exploring its awe inspiring creation of 2,000-feet-high cliffs of granite and gneiss and the thousands of icebergs, bergie bits, and growlers left in its receding wake. We were treated to a presentation on phone photography by photo instructor Lauren Buchholz on the way out of the fjord and an after-dinner presentation on glaciology and the Ice Ages by yours truly.
5/3/2025
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National Geographic Sea Lion
Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness Area
National Geographic Sea Lion cruised throughout the night, heading south through Lynn Canal and making her way towards Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness Area. Early in the morning, we were on approach to Holkham Bay, where we “crossed the bar,” which consists of glacial outwash at the entrance to an extensive fjord system. This wilderness area was established by Congress in 1980, and 653,179 acres of land fall under federal wilderness protection. This fjord system is made up of two arms approximately thirty miles in length. Our goal was Endicott Arm, where we would spend the entire day. During the last ice age, thousands of feet of ice covered this entire area. When the retreat of ice began, these fjords were carved by that ice. This allowed sea water to enter, offering excellent cruising for many ships. National Geographic Sea Lion spent the day cruising and dropping in many of our kayaks and Zodiacs, so all had a chance to paddle and/or cruise this picturesque waterway.
