I am not a great fan of planned group holidays, but I have to say, this time, I had loads of fun. It was off to Alaska via a cruise boat. I had preconceptions of Alaska, grizzly bears, moose, otters, lumberjacks, the odd gold miner panning about and no hopes of a decent cup of coffee. I did see lumberjacks, some otters, and there was amazing coffee and as for the rest…well…next time.
I knew heading out that some of the shots I wanted to take were not going to happen without a telephoto lens. I don’t use one. I use my little street camera with its limited range. My camera’s lens was dwarfed by those around me with such long lenses that they really needed a support system of their own. Well carry on boys, my little Leica and me will see what we can do.
I really hope the stunning colour of the water shows up on your monitor. It was an amazing blue, the kind of green inky blue, emerald coloured, it was the last thing I expected from the water so far north. Dark grey, maybe even a dark blue, but this stunning green water blew me away.
We sailed into this fjord to the Sawyer Glacier. I was really impressed with the skills of the Captain as we headed around the bend. I could not leave deck for a second, the scenery was so stunning. If you see a little dot on any of the ice calves in the photos, those are seals.
It was a sobering moment when I took this photo. The Glacier should be a stunning blue, but it is sadly marred by grey black pollution, caused by both man and nature. Are we really separate though? Still it was breath-taking. There was the sound of the odd splash into the water as ice fell from the roof of an ice cave.
I was at this point wishing for a telephoto lens as everyone around me was exclaiming, Seals! There’s one! Where? On the ice! I saw only little black dots. If you have really good eyes on the bottom right hand corner of this photo, you’ll spy a fat seal lying on the ice.
Tracy Arm is a fjords over 30 miles (48 km) long and an amazing introduction to the beauty of Alaska. As we sailed back out of the fjord, mountain goats were spotted. Again, all I could do was capture the amazing colours of Alaska. On those hills, somewhere are the mountain goats! Next Stop Juneau, Alaska!
A camera travels 
To capture the water’s jewel tones, you have taken my breath away with your photos.
Alaska is one of my favorite vacation spots. It can be very rustic if you travel inland any distance, but few places can compare to the raw beauty. Thanks for making my week!
Hi Fannie! Thank you so much. I just kept staring and thinking, this is so unreal looking! It was just that beautiful, almost like it was created for the movies and was a set! Of course it was just nature…lol…just nature…wow….just wow…
I agree, wow.
Watching the glaciers calf and the sea life and wild life just a few hundred meters away. Puffins, whales, and bears, oh sigh. 😉 (Sorry I couldn’t help myself.)
We took an Alaskan cruise a couple years ago. So pretty. When we sailed past the fjord to the Sawyer Glacier, I was up in the fitness center running on the treadmill. Talk about a gorgeous view! Put a new pep in my step. While in Alaska, we also took an excursion to the Iditarod training camp. My boys loved it.
Carrie, I would love to do trip number two. I felt it was just the tip of the iceberg…( oh groan…that was not intended! ) 🙂
But it worked beautifully. 😉
what an amazing place !! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! Welcome! I just fell in love with the splendour of Alaska! It is an amazing place!