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Cloud Ridge Naturalists
 
Wild Ocean Mists:
Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park
 
Glaciers move in tides. So do mountains, so do all things. (John Muir)

WILD OCEAN MISTS: ALASKA'S GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK
May 6-18, 2012
13 Days/12 Nights

Wayne Howell, Kimber Owen,
Marilyn Hailbronner & M/V Sea Wolf Crew

m/v Sea Wolf - 97 foot vintage wooden boatImagine Glacier Bay as John Muir saw it in 1899, as a member of the legendary Harriman Expedition—without the cruise ships, the guidebooks, and interpretive signs that define the modern visitor's experience. Glacier Bay is a deepwater fjord system with two arms, Muir Inlet and the West Arm, each more than 65 miles long. Traveling aboard the M/V Sea Wolf, a 97-foot vintage wooden boat, we'll have the chance to see this spectacular landscape of glaciers and fjords in much the same way that Harriman's scientists did. We'll trace the evidence of climatic change left behind by the advance and retreat of these immense glaciers—just as Muir did—and ponder the impacts and environmental changes that loom on the horizon.

Unlike big cruise ships, Sea Wolf is trim enough to explore the narrowest of fjords and shallow coastal waters. She hosts twelve passengers and a crew of five in superb comfort—the perfect size for a voyage such as ours. The Sea Wolf carries a full complement of sea kayaks and a motorized inflatable to enable exploration both far and wide. For those who take paddle in hand, the use of sea kayaks allows a more intimate view of the tidewater glaciers, inlets, islets, and estuary streams that make this coastal wilderness one of North America's most biologically diverse areas. Few people know this ice-bound wilderness park as well as our leaders, Wayne Howell, recently retired archaeologist and naturalist for Glacier Bay National Park, and the Sea Wolf's owner, Kimber Owen. Marilyn Hailbronner, naturalist artist and Sea Wolf crew member, will share her techniques for using drawing and watercolor to enhance your natural history observations—a joy for those wishing to follow the centuries-old tradition of keeping an expedition journal.

May is a magical time to be in Glacier Bay, largely because the weather is at its best and we have these spectacular fjords to ourselves—just the bears, the first humpback whales, and the thousands of migrating shorebirds and seabirds traveling the Pacific Flyway. Against a backdrop of some of the most magnificent mountains on earth, rivers of glacial ice tumble into the sea and aquamarine-colored icebergs drift by on the tides. Responding to the boom and crash of ice at the glacier front, kittiwakes and Arctic terns swirl over the churning, welling waters in search of food. Western sandpipers and other shorebirds skitter along the shorelines, poking their bills into the food-rich mud and gravels of the intertidal zone. Both brown and black bears, recently emerged from hibernation dens, relish sweetly resinous cottonwood buds, graze on sedges, or scrape succulent barnacles and mussels from the rocks. For the wildlife of Glacier Bay and the outer islands, this is truly a time of plenty. Don't miss this rare opportunity to explore Glacier Bay!

 

 

Price: $4,995 (includes a $500 deposit)
Group Size: 12
Trip Rating: 2-3

Price Includes: 10 nights/11 days aboard the M/V Sea Wolf, all meals and beverages aboard, 2 nights' lodging in Juneau (May 6 and 17), two group dinners ashore, the services of a five-person crew and four naturalist leaders, roundtrip Air Excursions charter flight to Gustavus from Juneau (including a 90-minute scenic flight), all boat and hotel transfers, full sea kayak outfitting and instruction, gratuities to the Sea Wolf's crew, and all applicable state and local taxes. Does not include roundtrip airfare to Juneau, Alaska from your point of departure.

Need more information? Visit Sea Wolf Adventures online at www.seawolfadventures.net for pictures of the M/V Sea Wolf, her cabins, amenities, accessibility & crew biographies.

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