Cruisin' Alaska - Part 1 - Juneau & Glacier Bay

This has been the second half of a 2 week research trip.  Last week we were on a ship that was sailing the east coast of Canada.  This week the ship we were on was sailing to Alaska.  I departed Seattle Saturday Sept 16.    After a rough sea day sailing north on the 17, and some raining weather in Juneau the weather has been glorious and sunny since then.  

Juneau (Monday Sept 18)

The objective target for Juneau was simply to find some fresh king crab for lunch and we found it at Tracy's King crab shack.  While it looks extremely touristy from the outside and is right near the port, the crab was cooked to perfection.  It was paired with some Alaskan Amber to make for a great Alaskan lunch. 

Glacier Bay (Tuesday Sept 19)

Glacier bay is a National Park and best viewed by boat.  On this visit the ship went to two primary glaciers.  The first was the Grand pacific Glacier, and the second was the Johns Hopkins Glacier.  Normally you cannot get close to the Johns Hopkins Glacier due to Seal nesting, however after Sept 1, this restriction is gone we we got a front door show of this amazing sheet of ice.  Also when looking at the pictures and the size of the glacier, to give you a sense of scale, I was taking these shots from deck 10 of the ship which is at least 100 feet above the level of the sea.  The captain did an amazing job of piloting this massive ship almost up on the glacier and then turning it in these narrow channels.

Grand Pacific Glacier
Johns Hopkins Glacier

Some additional great shots as the ship sailed out of Glacier bay in very nice sunny weather!

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