The “crown jewel of the Park Service” is a fitting title for Glacier Bay National Park. With blue skies above and Marjorie Glacier in front of us, we started our day of exploration. Brown bears roamed the shorelines, mountain goats did convincing imitations of laundry piles. A group of Steller sea lions seemed to take exception to our attentions towards the goats on Gloomy Knob and photo-bombed them. Onward to Geike Inlet where a sleepy brown bear reclined in a snowbank, and five wolves traipsed up a snow slope, and a moose reclined down the inlet in the same style as our prior bear. Onward to South Marble Island with the boisterous and odiferous Steller sea lions draped about the shoreline rocks. Staccato squawks of kittiwakes and other gulls filled the air as a pair of bald eagles sporadically took flight, upsetting the avian residents of the island. A stroll around the park headquarters at Bartlett Cove amongst bird song and golden light put the finishing touch on our day in a gem of a national park.
5/7/2025
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National Geographic Sea Bird
Daajing Giids, Haida Gwaii, Hecate Strait
After an evening cruising from SG̱ang Gwaay, National Geographic Sea Bird made one last stop this morning in Daajing Giids to drop off our cultural interpreters, DeeDee Crosby and Grace Garvie. At dock, we had two unique opportunities. The first, our daily morning stretch class had the opportunity to meet on land, and second, we welcomed the incredible artisan, Aay Aay, aboard. We were familiar with Aay Aay, who we had met two days prior as an interpreter at the Haida Heritage Center. His specialty is a revival of traditional Haida weaving. During Aay Aay’s time on board, he shared with us his personal story about discovering and mastering his art with spruce root, cedar, and wool weaving. He taught us how to hand spin the warp threads that would be the beginnings of a wool piece. After an artistic morning, we embarked on our journey across Hecate Strait to reach our next destination along our expedition, Alaska. This evening, I write as we make our way into Dixon Entrance preparing to wake up to the scenery of the famed Misty Fjords in the morning.
