This is the second in a series of posts based around our trip to Alaska in 2006. The first post covered our visit to Denali National Park. This post will cover our visit to Johns Hopkins Glacier, deep in Glacier Bay. It also includes a fun video of the glacier calving, that is dropping off a big chunk of ice into the sea.

When we left Denali Park, we traveled south by train to Anchorage and stayed overnight. The next morning we flew to Juneau and boarded our ship, the Spirit of Alaska. Run by the now defunct company Cruise West, the Spirit of Alaska was a small ship with only 70 passengers. This is quite a difference from your traditional cruise ship that carries 2,000 or more passengers. It is more intimate and in Alaska, you get to be much closer to the sights and wildlife.

This is the view up into Glacier Bay, looking to the northwest. This picture was taken as we were leaving the bay, but it is an accurate picture of what it would look like when we entered the bay. Click on any picture to get a full-sized view.

As we got into the bay leading to Johns Hopkins glacier, we could see the classic glacier shape snaking up the valley to the mountains beyond.

As we got closer, we could begin to appreciate the size of the glacier. There were young seals on the ice flows around the glacier. This part of the bay had just opened for summer as the seals were old enough not to be bothered by a small ship. To compare this to a traditional large ship cruise, we left the large ship 15 miles behind. They could not come up close to the glacier.

We came up very close to the glacier to see what we could see. This is Mt. Abbe, flanked by Johns Hopkins glacier on one side and a smaller one on the other.

We were all watching the glacier as it groaned and occasionally dropped a block of ice. We were then rewarded by large calving event. Minutes after the ice came crashing into the water the ship was rocking back and forth in the waves from the impact. It was great fun. The seals didn’t seem to even notice it. (If you have trouble with the version below, you can also watch it on YouTube.)

After that excitement we headed back down the bay for more adventures. We saw lots of whales. Lots and lots of whales. Here is one shot of some whales breaching as we cruised south through Glacier Bay.

More about our trip and more pictures coming next month.