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vmatch
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Posted: Sat Jun 23rd, 2007 11:17 pm |
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OK Rick, we won't tell everyone about the "stuffed eagle" on display so that every tourist can get a close up picture of an eagle. No wonder our pictures are similar (just kidding, folks).::whacky I was there last year and stayed for the program where an attendant brought out a live eagle. Her name is Sitka. (see photo)
I'm doing the Douglas Island Sea Kayaking in Juneau (afternoon) with a good Abe buddy I met on cruise '05. He doesn't know I've never been in a kayak before. Any advice besides don't tip it over?
Doing the Mendenhall River Float was Jody's idea. Didn't Abe say we came for the ride on the river? Since I meet the age requirement (6-99), I figured to give it a go, you know, get that existential experience of going with the flow.
I'm looking forward to seeing you on board. You'll be the one with the camera, right?
Attachment: Sitka.JPG (Downloaded 74 times)
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Sat Jun 23rd, 2007 11:45 pm |
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vmatch wrote: I was there last year and stayed for the program where an attendant brought out a live eagle. That's the head shot I want - no fence in between.
I'm doing the Douglas Island Sea Kayaking in Juneau (afternoon) with a good Abe buddy I met on cruise '05. He doesn't know I've never been in a kayak before. Any advice besides don't tip it over?
"Don't tip over" pretty much covers it. And don't be too proud to ask for help getting in & out. 
I'm looking forward to seeing you on board. You'll be the one with the camera, right?
Sitka National Forest on the way to the raptor center -
Attachment: sitka woods .jpg (Downloaded 73 times)
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spiralingshape
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Posted: Wed Jun 27th, 2007 02:11 pm |
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Hi All!
I am booked on the A-H cruise as well and I am so excited! My friend and I are spending a few days in Seattle beforehand.
We booked a helicopter glacier tour and dogsledding independently of the ship. We are also doing a wildlife tour and the raptor center.
I can't believe it is almost here! I am looking forward to meeting everyone. I can't believe there are so many people going! How wonderful it will be to have a ship filled with so much positive energy...surrounded by so much beauty!
Christine
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Jody1
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Posted: Wed Jun 27th, 2007 02:27 pm |
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Welcome Christine!!
I hope you'll check out the thread at the top of this Forum about our little meeting on the first sailing day!
Jody
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 02:33 am |
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Here is some info for us to take in about our first time destination on the Abraham Well-Being Cruise of Glacier Bay National Park.
Rick
Glacier Bay National Park
How does it feel when a monumental chunk of ice splits off a glacier and crashes into the sea? The sound is like thunder. The impact shoots water hundreds of feet into the air. You hold your breath as you catch the moment on film. Then you wait for it to happen again. And it does. Glacier Bay has more active calving glaciers than anywhere else in the world.
Cruise by Reid and Lamplugh glaciers to the mighty John Hopkins - surrounded by rugged peaks and sheltering a seal pupping ground. Linger at Grand Pacific and Margerie glaciers for the grandest spectacle of them all. Margerie is an Ice Age giant a mile wide and 25 stories high. You will marvel at nature's unrelenting power as you witness the birth of one massive iceberg after another.
Wildlife
Search for humback whales returning from their wintering grounds near Hawaii, killer whales feeding in the park's near-shore waters, Steller sea lions resting on rocky islands, and harbor seals nurturing their pups. Glacier Bay is the setting for an unforgettable wildlife search.
The highest concentration of tidewater glaciers on the planet can be found at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Access to this natural wonderland is extremely limited and not all cruise lines can offer this highlight.
Spread across an impressive 3.2 million acres in southeastern Alaska, this treasure trove of scenic coastal islands, narrow fjords and substantial wildlife offers an inspirational glimpse of what Mother Nature does best.
"MORNING OF CREATION" When John Muir discovered Glacier Bay in 1879, he surveyed the unblemished panorama and declared it "still in the morning of creation." Muir wasn't the first explorer to be in the area. Nearly a century earlier, George Vancouver's ships sailed right past it because a wall of ice sealed off the entrance to the bay. But over the last 200 years, the ice has been steadily receding, revealing a stark landscape that's slowly being taken over by vegetation that can't resist the fresh rock and soil. The result is a lush, temperate rainforest of spruces and hemlocks that carpets large portions of the stunning terrain.
TARR INLET At the head of Glacier Bay is the Tarr Inlet, where scientists have found exposed rock that's believed to be more than 200 million years old. The Tarr Inlet is home to the Grand Pacific Glacier, an active body of ice that's slowly making its way toward the Margerie Glacier, which it last touched in 1912.
JOHNS HOPKINS INLET As you cruise by the northeastern edge of the robust Fairweather Range, you'll enter the Johns Hopkins Inlet, home to no less than nine glaciers. Framed by rocky slopes that stretch skyward more than 6,000 feet, these wondrous bodies are eclipsed only by the mighty Mount Fairweather itself, which at more than 15,300 feet is the highest point in southeast Alaska.
BRILLIANT BLUE GLOW In the northeastern corner of Glacier Bay, the snow-covered Takhinsha Mountains feed the active Muir Glacier, which regularly sheds walls of ice into the bay. The brilliant blue glow of a calving glacier and the thunderous roar of ice crashing into the water below are sights and sounds that you'll remember for the rest of your life.
With such a diverse landscape, the park provides a variety of habitats for animals, big and small. Large colonies of seabirds, migrating ducks and geese, black bears, seals, sea lions, porpoises and whales are all common here.
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 01:45 pm |
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Something else to watch for in Sitka. Since I did not even realize it was there the first two years I thought I would at least make others aware. Of course the cloud cover determines visibility but there is an obvious bridge at the edge of town that is within reasonable walking distance if you want to get a closer look. If you want to get a look from the ship deck, face the shore and look to the left.
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Mount Edgecumbe is one of Alaska's prettier and more accessible volcanoes, sitting just across the way from Sitka. This photo was taken in March 2002 on a fine spring day. It was named by Captain Cook in 1778, most likely for George, Earl of Edgecumbe. Some think it's a namesake of Mount Edgecumbe overlooking the harbor at Plymouth, England, but that's a low, broad eminence not at all reminiscent of this volcano.
The volcano is inactive today, but just barely—its last big eruption was around 10,000 years ago, at the beginning of the Holocene, with a few smaller events afterward. To the right is Crater Ridge, a complex of several volcanic vents. Volcanoes are rather scarce in southeastern Alaska.
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As we glide slowly into Sitka on Thursday at apx. 8:00 A.M. If you are up and around at that time, do yourself a favor and go out on the deck for a couple minutes. Not only is the vantage point to see the volcano better as we are still moving in but Sitka is unique and tranquil. Lots of islands and mountain peaks around. There are a few houses sprinkled around on a few of the islands. Some have foot bridges connecting from island to island. Everyone has their boat to go into town. Once in a while you'll see a small boat (compared to us of course) or two cruising around the calm waters. To the left where the small islands are you can usually spot eagles in the trees or flying around. It really lends to the imagination "wow, what would it be like to live on one of those islands for a little while?"
Note: Everywhere in Sitka is a good spot to see eagles.
Rick
Attachment: mtedgecumb.jpg (Downloaded 45 times) Last edited on Sun Jul 1st, 2007 01:49 pm by xxrivmanxx
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 01:51 pm |
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| One of mine from Sitka last year. Attachment: Sitka '06.jpg (Downloaded 48 times)
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Jody1
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 03:12 pm |
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Rick, have you thought about travel writing as your next career!! If I wasn't already signed up for this cruise I'd be on my way to Seattle to crash the line for embarkation after seeing your photos and reading your posts!!!
Thank you!!
Jody
P.S. I can't remember - as we come into Sitka do we see it off port or starboard?
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Jody1
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 03:21 pm |
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Rick, Linda, Everybody... I was going through my documents today getting more and more excited, and noticed on the workshop schedule that we received with the docs, there is a change in workshop hours from those that appeared on the schedule you posted earlier, Rick... anyone else notice that?
Tuesday (glacier viewing day) we only have a morning workshop, no afternoon session. Actually, I was a bit relieved to see this, since I want to be out on the bow for as long as we can actually see the glaciers. I didn't want to be torn between the Vista lounge and being outside in Glacier Bay. I wonder if this is why they decided on the change.
I've been sick with the flu (yes, yes, the Inner being finally getting its way with me and making me SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET...) for about a week... just coming out of it now just in time to PACK!!! The excitement builds... can it get any higher???
Jody
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 03:48 pm |
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Jody1 wrote: Jody
P.S. I can't remember - as we come into Sitka do we see it off port or starboard?
Starboard is the nautical term that refers to the right side of a vessel as perceived by a person on board the ship and facing the bow (front).
According to this info, it will be off to the port side.
And yes I have thought about something along the lines of "Selling Alaska." It is one of my favorite things to talk about - these cruises, and I do it all year to anyone that is willing to listen.
Here's a 2004 sunset on the open water. It appears to have reflection but none of it is. At the very bottom of the picture you can see the dark water. (I had to fit in this worthless piece of information some where)
Attachment: 04' sunset.jpg (Downloaded 44 times)
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Jody1
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 04:03 pm |
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Nonononono! Information is NEVER worthless. As someone who makes an abundant living from information, I can tell you that Information, far from being worthless, is Power. Information is one of those things where one man's trash is another man's treasure...
So.. let's see... this is on topic because.... Oh, because a picture of Alaska taken on an Abe cruise is GOLD!!!!! More, please!!!!
Jody
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 04:26 pm |
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Jody1 wrote: Rick, Linda, Everybody... there is a change in workshop hours from those that appeared on the schedule you posted earlier, Rick... anyone else notice that?
Tuesday (glacier viewing day) we only have a morning workshop, no afternoon session. Actually, I was a bit relieved to see this, since I want to be out on the bow for as long as we can actually see the glaciers. I didn't want to be torn between the Vista lounge and being outside in Glacier Bay. I wonder if this is why they decided on the change.
Jody
Jody, when someone had posted a preliminary workshop schedule on the old forum, the first thing I wanted to know was about possible time overlaps and sure enough there was some. So, I called Ron at Worldview and expressed my concerns about this and he assured me that Glacier Bay (which he has been to before) is quite large and there will be times we are there that all we will see is open water - not like Yakutat Bay where once we enter there is always something to see on at least one side of the ship and the closer we got to Hubbard Glacier there was scenery on both sides. In Glacier Bay there are branches to cruise into and then back out into the open water "hub" and then back into another branch and out into the open water.
I also mentioned to Ron that I heard they showed "The secret behind the secret" (which is fan-swearword-tastic) on the Hawaii cruise I think it was, and that if they were going to do that on our cruise that maybe they could do it on Glacier Bay day. That way there would be people that have already seen it and others that can buy the dvd if they want and there would be no "torn betweens."
So in the end I told Ron that he and Patty have done such an outstanding job on the previous cruises that I should expect nothing less for this one. They are on top of it.
Let us not forget that next year we are doing Glacier Bay again and we can make even more informed decisions then.
::yeah
Also, a good dose of the three stooges can help almost anyone get back to "normal."
Check out the color of this sky from my Misty Fjords Flight from Ketchikan in 2004
Attachment: Fjords sky '04.jpg (Downloaded 42 times)
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Jody1
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 09:07 pm |
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Rick, I'm doing Misty Fjords in Ketchikan by boat only this year - have you done that one? When I did the float plane it was so NOISY... I thought being on the boat would feel closer and if it's not too cold we can be on deck...
Only problem is it's a 7:30 excursion! So early! But Ketchikan is only a half day port - we sail at 1 PM...
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Sun Jul 1st, 2007 10:10 pm |
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Jody1 wrote: Rick, I'm doing Misty Fjords in Ketchikan by boat only this year - have you done that one? When I did the float plane it was so NOISY... I thought being on the boat would feel closer and if it's not too cold we can be on deck...
In 2005 with my dad and step mom we did the boat out and fly back, though the fly back was cancelled due to weather conditions. It can be a bit windy on the way out but when you get to the good stuff, the unbelievably beautiful stuff! You will slow right down and will be comfy out on the deck. Do bring some layers just to be sure that you'll be able to stay outside for a while. It is really worth it! I'm pretty sure Tom and Mark are taking the same excursion as you but don't hold your breath waiting for either of them to confirm on here. 
And as always thanks for the opportunity to post another picture. This is from the 2005 Fjords boat ride I just mentioned.
Attachment: misty fjords wall.jpg (Downloaded 36 times)
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xxrivmanxx
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Posted: Wed Jul 4th, 2007 01:05 am |
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I just got off the phone with the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in Juneau. I wanted to tell them that the web cam has been down for a week and I am trying to keep an eye on the chunks of ice in the lake because I'll be kayaking there next Wednesday! The guy told me that the temperature has been in the 70's and there has been a lot of calving. He said that people that have lived there for forty years have not seen this much ice in the water before. ::yeahHe also mentioned that they have been pulling ice from the water up into the parking lot so we can see it up close.
So maybe you people could care less about the amount of ice in the lake but it has been my biggest and most specific  for this years cruise to not only get to the waterfall that flows into the lake but to paddle right next to glacier ice as well. Don't tell the steam but I have a thing for the ice ::whacky , and really dense blue ice is the best!
Hey, at least I've let you know it's been in the 70's in Juneau.
Picture from near Hubbard Glacier last year.
Attachment: blue float .jpg (Downloaded 28 times) Last edited on Wed Jul 4th, 2007 01:20 am by xxrivmanxx
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