Prince William Sound

I would venture a guess that most of us have seen cruise commercials on television showing pieces of glaciers falling into the ocean water when taking the inland passage up the Alaskan coast. I had visions of experiencing such at some point in the future. Instead of taking a several day cruise we took a long one day cruise out of Valdez AK through part of the Prince William Sound. This was billed as a 12-hour cruise on a large catamaran boat, and oh way a day it was. Many times on our journey north we had the experience of wonderment at the sights, sounds and smells of some of nature's best, and the day was no exception! Unlike the days before when wind and clouds prevailed, we woke up to a sunny and temperate day. The boat could hold over 125 people, but we enjoyed closer to fifty companions. Not feeling like sardines, we enjoy open space, open seating on the deck and plenty of complimentary food.

For those of you who do not like the idea of boat rides on the ocean because of the tendency of sea-sickness, the Prince William cruises boast that the waters are calm and the likelihood of such illness is greatly diminished. Our boat was newer, built in 2005, clean as a whistle and powered by twin diesel inboard engines. It's captain, a woman in her late 30s or early 40s had worked herself up from the ground floor, or should I say the boat floor, went to school and gained her licenses. She was a pleasant woman, who clearly thought she had one of the best jobs on the face of the earth. She steered our course and narrated the day's events which included sea lions, harbor seals, Orca whales, dolphin, ice bergs, glaciers, and ribbon waterfalls. We cruised passed small islands and inlets and bays, sometime with waters that were milky emerald green. The sites enthralled us all. We learned about the history of the sound, including the fox farms that had existed prior to the Great Depression of the 30s. Have you experience days where you didn't want it to end, but for time to slow down so you could absorb more memory and enjoy the sights? This was such a day and I have not even shared with you about the glaciers that come right to the ocean and then calve off.

Before I speak more of the experience, let me share what I learned about fox farms, something that I never knew about before. When fox had been hunted by the furriers of the north, supplies were so greatly diminished that fox farms were established on many of the island in the Prince William Sound. These were not glorious enterprises or settlements of any kind. We learned that foxes are afraid of the water, thus if you raised foxes on the small islands by feeding and watering them, there was no need for fences. A lone man would, for a nominal annual fee of something like $25, lease an island from the federal government and set up shop which consisted generally of a place to sleep and eat and a elevated cache. His stores for himself and his foxes would be brought in or caught and at the proper time, pelts would be rendered for the markets of the world beyond. I enjoy alone time, but I am made of a different cloth than those of old who would spend months by themselves on these isolated islands.

My next entry will talk about the glaciers we experienced, namely two of them, including seeing the viewing of three of the total of eight surviving Rouge Orcas and the epicenter location of the great earthquake of 1964 that did so much damage to the towns of Anchorage, Valdez and the many others less notable. But before that entry, I will separately post a picture or two of our day on the water. I hope you enjoyed the read.