ALASKAN CRUISE BLOG – CROWN PRINCESS DAY SEVEN – COLLEGE FJORD Friday August 22nd, 2014 After Glacier Bay, we headed for Cape Spencer and the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska. We negotiated a very narrow passage through Hinchinbrook Entrance and to a wonderful vista of the Chugach Mountains to the northeast. Then, making a gentle curve to the northwest, we entered the area of Port Wells. Supposedly this is a great place to see Sea Otters but I guess they were off that day. We passed an interesting and forlorn sight at Point Packingham – the Ghost Forest. A stand of dead trees extends from the shore out into the waters and is a remnant of the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964. The quake registered 9.2 on the Richter and generated three huge tsunamis that wiped out the town of Valdez and did severe damage to the town of Seward. This event was so powerful that the eastern shore actually rose by 6 feet and the western shoreline sunk 8 feet. A reminder to not mess with Mother Nature! Soon we put our rudder at right standard and sailed into College Fjord. Five different tidewater glaciers (terminating into water) tumble down from the ridgeline into the waters of the fjords. There are five valley glaciers and a number of smaller glaciers. Why such an odd name as College Fjord? It was discovered in 1899 during the Harriman expedition and since two members of the party were college professors (Amherst and Harvard), they took it upon themselves to name the glaciers for colleges in the northeast: women’s colleges on the northwest and men’s colleges on the southeast. Therefore, the glaciers are named: Amherst, Bryn Mawr, Barnard, Downer, Harvard, Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, Wellesley, Williams and Yale. Word has it that they took great delight in ignoring Princeton. Throw in Crescent, Baby Glacier and a few others and there you have it – College Fjord! The colors were amazing and since the light changes constantly, so does the mood and color. All the following photos were taken on the same day yet they are all different! Tomorrow – Whittier, Anchorage and home!
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 19:09:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015