it's one of these "500 pictures" day....

We had one of these "500 pictures" day - that's a day when there is so much to see that we just cant help ourselves, and between the 2 of us, we end up taking over 500 pictures.  That's a problem because I have to go through all of them to pick just a few to illustrate the day, and because we are now on a ship which has very iffy wifi, so posting a lot of pictures is difficult.  Oh, and we had dinner at the wonderful French restaurant on the ship, and it's possible that I had a bit too much to drink, making technology problems even harder to deal with.....  with that in mind, i'll give it a shot, but this blog will probably need to be edited later.....

We left the stunning Aleiska resort at noon, wishing we could stay much longer.  The good thing about the type of tour we are taking right now is that one gets to see a lot of stuff.  The problem is that we just never stay long enough.  I really wish we could have stayed a few days (at least) at the resort, do some hiking, experience the forest.  But our ship was sailing in the afternoon from Sewart - 90 miles south- so we had to go.

We had a lovely breakfast with a view,

And got to enjoy the beautiful flowers all around the resorts.  I particularly loved these Himalayan poppies - I'll see if I can grow them back home.














Before getting on the bus though, we did something extra special - we took a helicopter tour of the glaciers and of Prince William sound- that's where we took the majority of the pictures.  Which was foolish, because pictures cannot do justice to the experience.  But i'll give it a shot anyway.

We first flew out of the valley.  I mentioned yesterday that it is very lush.  Our pilot said that it is indeed a small rain forest - stuck in between two ranges, it gets a lot of water and is much more diverse and greener than anything around it.

We then flew around the glaciers, the ice falls, and the still snow covered mountains, crossing over to Prince William sound. 

Our pilot Ben was full of information and made flying a helicopter look as easy as playing a video game.....

We landed on a moraine (the thin layer of rocks and gravel carried by the glacier on top of the deep ice).  What an amazing experience to be up there, all alone in these wild and peaceful place.  Not a noise other than the water trickling down from the glacier and the ice crackling....

And then continued on to see the edge of the glacier, to see up close how much they have been receding in the last few years, and yet wonder at their magnificence and power.

We then passed over the mountain to Prince William sound, where sea otters were playing (did not get pictures of that because Joe had the wide angle super-duper lens, but not the wild life super-duper lens with him).  I may like sea otters almost as much as I like penguins......  we did however get to see this amazing landscape, carved by glaciers over millions of years.

After that, it was back on the bus for the final leg of our land trip - 90 miles south to the port of Sewart.  On the way, we stopped at the Alaska conservation center, where they rescue and rehabilitate wild animals that have either been injured or otherwise need help (e.g - a moose whose mother had been killed when he was too young to survive).  The goal, when possible, it to release the animals in the wild, so they strive to have them live as close to their real environment as possible.  This is not a zoo - but still, it provides to opportunity to see some of the wild life much closer.  

 Here are some wood bison - which have been extinct in Alaska for over 100 years.  This program has brought a few for breeding from Canada, and last year, for the first time in 100years, a small herd of them was released and now roams in the wild.  There enclosure has very nice views.....

The story of the musk ox is almost the opposite: 

They were exciting in Norway, so the Norwegians imported a few from here, and started their own breeding program.  We did not see them last year when we were in Norway, but we did drive through their range.  It is nice to see these kind of programs being successful out there!





We came close to baby elks, moose, porcupines, caribous and black bear.

I have too many pictures to post, so will only show the wolf, and the grizzlies, clearly enjoying the water.

 Another 60 miles down the coast, and we bid goodby to our wonderful tour guide Stephanie.  She was really fun and warm, and knowledgeable.  And read- very well- a few poems by Robert Service, speaking about life in the Yukon at the beginning of the 20th century.

 Time to embark on our ship- the Mariner- and discover our honestly decadent room (it is in fact the least decadent one on the ship - there is one that is 2000 square feet.....). 

 But even us less decadent people get a pretty balcony with a view....  :-)

 We left at 5pm from Sewart, in glorious weather!

And of course had some celebratory drinks on the deck

followed by a magnificent French dinner and drinks (which explains why I was unable to finish this blog post last evening.....). 














The sea is very flat, and the weather gorgeous,  still I am just a little bit woozy - but functional.  Soon we'll enter the inner passage, which is even flatter, so I should be just fine.  Besides, there is just too much good food on these trips, so not being able to eat much is probably best for me.....