Monday

Monday morning we drove down to Seward, about 120 miles from Anchorage.  We were going to do a nine hour or so cruise to Northwestern Fjord.  Only one tour company goes into Northwestern (what a sweet deal they have with the National Park people) and they bring in only one small ship a day, so very few people have made this trip.  In the other fjords around it 8 to 12 ships go several times a day.

On the way down, another giant lumbering moose was just hanging out

They show absolutely no fear of the cars or of people.  Though I think it wasn't needed in this case, as the moose was easily bigger then the car we had rented.

We arrive in Seward about 7:30, get a quick breakfast, and then check in for the trip.  As we're waiting to take off, an eagle comes down to see what's going on, landing on one of the other ships at the dock

Looking back over Seward from the deck

The Eagle was just flying around and landing over and over again on the same mast.

The trip is about 150 miles and it's meant to do some wildlife spotting, visit the Glaciers in the fjord, and return again looking for different types of wildlife.  There was a bit of morning fog that had not burned off when we left the dock, but the forecast was very promising for when we got to where we were heading.

Depending on where you looked, the water was blue, green, gray, and the sky overcast, full of sun, etc.

A couple of Humpback Wales joined us for part of the trip, it was the first time we have seen them in the wild, they are very impressive

On the shores, more eagles just roaming around (this was taken from a very long distance, so it's not the sharpest)

We saw seals out on the rocks

Then we cruised into Northwestern Fjord