2017 Alaska Season: Best Of

This post will be like my 'year in reviews' but instead will feature one season of running trips up in Alaska's Inside Passage and all the 'best of' highlights of the season.

Best Ice Encounter: Top Left- Huge calving events at Dawes Glacier   Top Right- Ice sculptures stranded on the rocky shoreline at the Le Conte Ice Garden     Bottom Left- Standing inside a cave under a glacier made entirely of dense glacial ice  Bottom Right- Skiffing into a lake of ice at Baird Glacier

Read about these events here:
Witnessing a Calving Glacier with video,
Le Conte Ice Gardens,
Skiffing into an Ice Lake,     Mendenhall Ice Caves

 Best Polar Plunges: Left - Family from Savannah about to feel water slightly colder than their normal 85 degrees   Right - My crewmate Shannon took this picture at the perfect time capturing my backflip on the second deck in front of Dawes Glacier. You can read about it here: Polar Plunge at a Glacier


 Best Hike: Hands down the best hike of the year was the ridge line hike next to Lamplugh Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park. It was a team effort but the views were worth every drop of sweat. You can read the full story here: Hiking Lamplugh Glacier


Best Wildlife Encounters: These were hard to narrow down. From humpback whales diving under our skiff, rare moose sightings, bald eagles fighting over salmon, a sleepy sea otter holding its hands out of the water, hunting transient orcas leaping out of the water, looking up at bubble net feeding humpback whales on a calm day from a skiff, watching a mama brown bear catch salmon while her two cubs play fight in front of a beautiful waterfall from a kayak, megapods of pacific white sided dolphins bowriding our ship, a humpback whale breaching into the colors of the setting sun, and a steller sea lion seeking refuge on our swim step from nearby killer whales all round out some of the best wildlife encounters of the season.

Check out some of the posts here:
Escaping from a Hungry Killer Whale,
The Hunting Trifecta,
Bears at the Waterfall,
Bubble Net Feeding Humpbacks

What a season! For best of photos in high resolution to print, frame, and own for yourself check out www.daimarsphotos.com/AlaskaPhotos

 Best Sky of the Season: All in all it was a pretty cloudy, rainy season with two weeks of amazing sun towards the end. During that two week break we had some stellar sunsets and were even graced with the Northern Lights one night. Check out the Northern Lights in August post.

 Best Close Call: After our skiff driver took us in for a close up of this forty foot ice berg it toppled, shattering in the area we just drove through. It is an every changing landscape here which this close call proves. It is one of the reason I want to keep documenting and sharing all the amazing experiences that Alaska has to offer now.