Sunday, August 29, 2004.
During the night the ship positioned herself in Williams Cove, just south of Juneau near the entrance of Holkham Bay.  It is a narrow gorge bordered by fairly dense forest.  After breakfast, we took a Zodiac ride ashore and did a short walk with Gretchen Pederson, a naturalist who pointed about all manner of plant life.  We also saw the droppings of bear.  Gretchen was reassured that they "are not steaming."  There was also other evidence of bear activity, such as uprooted plants.  It is a "temperate forest" whose tree and plant population changes dramatically as we move inland.

Following the walk, Rosie returned to the ship while Paul went kayaking for an hour.  At one point he dipped his left sleeve into the water and scooped up a sleeve full.  Cold!  It was difficult to dry out the sleeve.  Our cabin is humid and things do not dry well.

In the afternoon we cruised into Holkham Bay and took the branch known as Tracy Arm to the Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers.  On the way, the captain positioned the bow of the Sea Lion under a waterfall, wetting the people at the bow.  We could see mountain goats at a great distance.  They looked like white dots that moved.  Tracy Arm is a spectacular gorge, with steep granite walls.  The captain told us that the water depth was up to 1000 feet …  beyond the range of their depth finder and certainly beyond the possibility of anchoring.  Paul took a Zodiac ride through a field of icebergs of spectacular shapes to the face of both glaciers. While we watched, the Sawyer glacier calved big chunks of ice from its face.  Never, however, while Paul had a camera pointed in the correct direction.   Rosemarie elected to stay aboard the warm ship, but regrets that decision.

After dinner, we bought polo shirts from the gift shop.