The first thing I did when I woke up was look out the window. It was sunny; check! The next thing I did was look up the wind forecast; check-check! I had a good feeling about the day ahead…

Six hours is a long time to be on a boat if the wind kicks up and the water is rough.  We were scheduled for a Kenai Fjords National Park Glacier Cruise, and I really didn’t want to spend it hanging my head over the back of the boat. And I really didn’t want to spend it with others doing the same! But during our safety talk after boarding, the captain made a point of telling us that was exactly where he wanted us to be if we got seasick. Lovely…

To cut to the chase, after you see these pictures, you will make the brilliant deduction that is not what any of us were doing at the back of the boat—or the front of the boat, for that matter. It was all hands on deck, but on our cameras and cell phones shooting pictures!

It was an awesome six hours! We were given a wildlife guide with a map of our route, the “Classic Kenai Fjords Park Tour,” which included passing by Bear Glacier and Holgate Glacier, and then stopping at Aialik Glacier. If we were lucky, we would also break for whales.

Along with the map were labeled photos of what we might see. We could fill in a little bubble to keep track. I laughed. What were the chances? Well, to make a long story short, we saw (if not photographed) almost everything, including a Bald Eagle that I forgot to fill in! No orcas? No surprise; our tour leader had seen them on less than 20% of the cruises she had taken with her tour groups.

What I didn’t get a good photograph of were the otters or birds, but I had photographed puffins while they were nesting in Iceland, very close to where I was standing; check out this post. I also got some close-up whale shots shown in this post.

Here, then, is what I did capture on this amazing day cruising the Kenai Fjords:

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Next up: SEATTLE & ALASKA #12: SCENES FROM SEWARD