We left the small port of Juneau late in the day aboard our small ship, and navigated our way down the waterways, leaving the charming town in our wake.
As we entered the fjords of Endicott Arm, we were greeted by massive granite mountains rising out of the sea on both sides of the narrow strait. The monoliths were smooth and slick as if molded out of clay and towering waterfalls cascaded down their faces, creating silver ribbons of water reflecting the white sky above. I was mesmerized by their massive size and the incredible number of waterfalls, I have never seen so many at one time. Everywhere I looked, there were waterfalls shimmering in the light.
That afternoon, we anchored just off of Dawes Glacier. We loaded into inflatable skiffs and set off towards the glacier to get a closer look. We made our way through the maze of floating “bergy bits,” chunks of ice bobbing in the water. As we got closer to the glacier we cut our engine and sat floating amongst the white chunks of ice, each one sculpted differently than the next. Except for the sound of distant waterfalls and the occasional seabird, there was silence all around. We waited patiently, hoping to catch a momentary glimpse of the great glacier calving. Suddenly without warning, somebody yelled, “there it goes!” A giant slab of blue ice broke off and tumbled into the sea, shattering itself into fragments on the way down. Moments later, the thunderous sound filled our ears, as the small waves rocked our boat from side to side. I will never forget this awesome spectacle of nature, surrounded by the infinite waterfalls of the fjords of Alaska.