Alaska Cruise of Endicott Arm Fjord to Dawes Glacier

 

On the third day of our Princess Discovery Alaska Cruise, my husband and I woke up very early as we knew the ship was scheduled to sail down scenic Endicott Arm Fjord to Dawes Glacier. 

Endicott Arm is a 30-mile-long fjord in southeastern Alaska, located about 50 miles south of Juneau. It is part of the larger Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, a protected area within the Tongass National Forest. This untouched region boasts rugged coastlines, deep blue waters, and sheer cliffs rising thousands of feet into the sky. The fjord culminates at Dawes Glacier, one of Alaska's most active tidewater glaciers.

At first, we watched from our balcony, but soon went up to the ship's upper deck to get a 360-degree view.

The sun rose higher in the sky...

...as the ship sailed closer to the glacier

It was a beautiful sight!

Close-up photos of Dawes Glacier.

I found this definition as to why glacier ice appears blue on this link: 

"Water and its frozen form, ice, have a similar effect on light, in that they trap long wavelengths of light, such as red and green, while allowing the shorter wavelengths, like blue, to pass through the ice and reach our eyes. That’s why the blue colour is most visible in shaded areas, not in direct sunlight. The light passing through the ice appears blue, but the directly reflected light off the air bubbles in the ice appear white in colour."

There were many pieces of the glacier ice floating in the surrounding water.

As daylight illuminated Endicott Arm, the views were so beautiful!

There were many, many waterfalls all around the surrounding shorelines as we sailed back out of the Fjord.

A short video of an Endicott Arm waterfall.

We passed Harbor Island as we re-entered Holkum Bay and continued to sail towards Juneau, which would be our next stop the following day.

After being up since 4:30 AM, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the ship's buffet. 

Later in the day, we attended an interesting lecture by a naturalist, journalist, and book author on board, Michael Modzelewski. 

He gave an interesting and informative lecture every day in the ship's theater about the Alaska Inside Passage and his experiences living in the Alaska frontier. 

On a past Alaska Cruise, we visited Hubbard Glacier -- click here to see that blog post, and we sailed down Glacier Bay National Park-- click here to read that post, and on this cruise, it was wonderful to see Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier, both of which are magnificent parts of Alaska! 

Next stop is Juneau, Alaska. I hope you will join me back here to see our adventures there!

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