Today’s forecast in Bakersfield and Austin is 101.  SO….I’d love to combat that with some ice water & glaciers!  The fourth day of our family Alaskan Cruise meant our ship had the opportunity to cruise into the inner straights that make up Glacier Bay National Park.  We were so excited to see that morning that we had a beautiful sunny, blue-sky type of day which can be very rare!   We had park rangers board our ship as we entered the park & gave us 2 hours of information on the wildlife & how the park came to be thanks to Mr. John Mier (Yosemite fans know that guy!).

I grew up with a dad who worked in a national park (Badlands!!) and I’m proud to say every family vacation has always involved a national park if we can find one nearby 🙂  This one is a little out of the way and only accessible by boat or flying in a small water plane, so I’m thrilled to have it checked off my list!  Enjoy some of my favorites and enjoy the chill of the ice to cool you off today!

Here is a shot of Reid Glacier to the left of the ship as we headed up towards the Tarr Inlet:

You gotta love seeing a Bald Eagle just hanging out on an ice burg.  

Our ship cruised into the Tarr Inlet to view the Margerie Glacier – the typical ‘pretty’ one!   It’s considered at ‘tide water’ glacier and measures about 21 miles long and 250 feet high….HUGE!  Our cruise ship stopped in front of it and rotated 360 degrees on it’s center axis to give us a great view and plenty of time for photos!

This Margerie Glacier is known for being on of the most active when it comes to ‘Calving” – breaking and dropping ice walls into the sea.  The sound was incredible to hear it crack, break and fall!  Here is a photo of what is equivalent to a VW Bug falling off the ice burg:

And the resulting splash!

Here’s a better perspective – a small fishing boat with the glacier in the background!

Leaving the inlet…..I loved this shot!

You know, hanging around ice burgs in our t-shirts! 

We then headed to the Johns Hopkins Inlet and the water and sky were absolutely breathtaking in their color!  

Oh….how excited was I that there was a basketball court on our ship!!!  It was so much fun to play once you got used to the conditions!

 I hope you’re enjoying my family vacation photos!!  Check back for more on Wednesday and Freyday this week, and if you missed last week check them out here:

EPIC Whale Watching:  http://www.jessicafreyphotographyblog.com/epic-whale-watching-bald-eagles

Mt. Rainier/Seattle/Juneau:  http://www.jessicafreyphotographyblog.com/freyday-more-alaska

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com