Welcome to Tracy Arm, Alaska

---

Bounded by Canada on the east, this wilderness area is highlighted by two sheer walled fjords, Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm, both narrow, deep and over 30 miles long. At the head of both fjords Tidewater glaciers calve regularly into the sea, making a ship's approach to their faces dangerous. Floating chunks of ice, some the size of a three story building, (according to the US Forest Service), often block access to the upper fjords, especially in the summer. Permanent ice, in fact, covers about one fifth of the wilderness. Rugged mountians dominate the landmass of the area, with steep valleys sparkling with high waterfalls. A young Alaska rain forest of spruce and hemlock grows to an elevation of about 1,500 feet. Wildlife include brown and black bears, mountian goats, wolves, a few Sitka black tailed deer, and many smaller fur bearing animals. Harbor seals rear their young on ice floating in the fjords, and whales and sea lions are often seen in the water. Bald eagles and shorebirds are common near the coastline. We, unfortunately did not see any of this wildlife or the three story ice chunks, because there was too much ice in the upper fjord to go very far into Tracy Arm. We did see many icebergettes though, some with that beautiful blue dense ice color floating in the water. It was also interesting to see how much of the ice piece was floating below the surface of the water in proportion to the size of ice on the top of the water, hence "icebergette". After suitable viewing time, we were soon on our way back out to Sitka

---

Comments

[Scott McRae]

Monday seeing ice burgs
I loved the cool blue color of the iceburgs. I spent a lot of time on deck watching them.