Action Packed Glacier Activities at Icy Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska

 

View from the drone, high above our ship's anchorage on our first morning at Tiger Glacier.

It feels good to be back in Alaska. After traveling through the night we felt our first piece of ice scraping down the hole before breakfast. We slowed down and pulled into a nice anchorage, a few miles from Tiger Glacier, in Icy Bay. This was Day 1 on our Prince William Sound itinerary on the Safari Explorer. While the guests were in breakfast, I sent up my drone for a few shots of our boat and the surrounding beauty.

We spent the morning taking our small boats through the fjords and up to the glacier. A few giant slabs of ice calved off the face of the glacier. We rode up and down on the waves created by the icefall. I ended up picking up some of this floating ice so the guests could see it up close. We had sea otters with pups and harbor seals hauled out on the ice flows. A black bear was even spotted going in and out of the bushes, high above us on the forest covered cliffs.

The adventures continued after lunch in front of Chenega Glacier. We transferred a couple of miles around the corner to Nassau Fjord. We sent out kayakers and skiff tourers, but I took out a new kind of adventure. My plan was to do several small hikes, combined with a skiff tour in front of the glacier. Our first stop was the terminal moraine of Tigertail Glacier. There was a ton of ice on the black sand beach that was left stranded by the receding tide. The top of the beach was covered in beautiful wildflowers. Then we busted through the alder and made it to a hidden glacial lake. I imagine not many people have ever been back here.

After getting picked up by the skiff we drove to the massive glacier at the head of the bay, called Chenega Glacier. We had been hearing lots of thunderous roars coming from the glacier as we were hiking. Big pieces of ice must have been falling off the face, crashing into the ocean below. We pushed our small boat up against a large, rocky knob, right in front of Chenega Glacier. Then people looked at me, a little incredulously, as I beckoned them to get off and climb the rock with me. About half the group followed me up to the top. It felt like we were right in front of a glacier. Pretty awesome.

We spent a little time hanging on the small boat in front of the active glacier before heading back to the Safari Explorer. What a way to start our trip!

A mom and baby sea otter watch us as we drive towards Tiger Glacier in Icy Bay, Alaska.

Two Harbor seals, hauled out on an ice flow.

This harbor sea was watching us while swimming through the ice.

Ice breaks off the face of Chenega Glacier and cashes into the ocean.

Getting up close and personal with a chunk of ice that could be several hundred years old.

Pretty typical for us to find ourselves all alone in the pristine wilderness of Prince William Sound. I don't think it'll stay our little secret forever, but I'll take it for now.

Our skiff tour group in front of Tiger Glacier.

As Tigertail Glacier recedes, it has left behind a glacial lake. We couldn't find our way around the scree field to get to the ice, but we enjoyed the view from across the lake.

Another view of the ship from the drone.

It is hard to pass up the opportunity to take the small boat into a flooded sea cave. This whole area of Icy Bay is just amazing.

This was my first time on land, exploring the old terminal moraine of Tigertail Glacier in Nassau Fjord. Chenega Glacier can be seen in the background with some beautiful wildflowers painting the landscape pink.

We climbed this exposed rocky knob, in front of a huge tidewater glacier. While we were at the top our kayaking team paddled by.

Champion mountain climbers in action. This was part of our skiff and hike activity, where we stopped and hiked at a couple different locations.

Christian looking small against the backdrop of a glacier.

Kirsten, taking in the ice garden at Tigertail Glacier.

I was still on east coast time, so I was up very early. I snapped this picture around 4am when the morning light was already plentiful.

My hikers heading back from the glacial lake at Tigertail Glacier.

There were a couple of these little kettle lakes on our afternoon hike.

A river runs through it.

Walking along the edge of the glacial lake.

Early morning light of the Alaskan mountains of Prince William Sound.

This was our first glimpse at Tiger Glacier on our first morning of the Prince William Sound trip.

Beautiful ice formations near the top of Chenega Glacier.

Summertime in Alaska.

Looking strait up at a part of the glacier, creeping over this big rocky knob.