On Day 13, the sound of seagulls outside the stateroom door broke a multi-day stretch of empty ocean. The birds were a clear sign that land was getting closer, and with it, the glacier we had been tracking on the itinerary.
By afternoon, the ship was heading northeast, pushing toward Endicott Arm. A thick May fog bank completely engulfed the shoreline, though it occasionally parted just enough to offer quick glimpses of snow-capped mountains.
The first iceberg appeared at 1:15 p.m., floating past just before we reached the main attraction. Then, the weather cleared beautifully, revealing the glacier in full view. Looking at that massive wall of ancient ice was a truly humbling experience. Our stateroom was positioned perfectly, giving us a direct, head-on view of the glacier and the fields of floating ice remnants surrounding it.
Seeing this glacier checks off one of the two major goals for this trip. The second is to finally plant my feet on Alaskan soil for the first time. This journey has already been a series of memorable firsts, with plenty more still to come.
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