Awestruck...

Yesterday I took my companies boat trip into Misty Fjords. And the only word I can use to describe my reaction was awestruck. I thought I had seen Alaskan beauty, but I was proven wrong yesterday. 

According to google, the definition of a Fjord is a long, narrow, deep inlet with high cliffs formed by glaciers. Those words don't exactly lead your mind to think of beauty, but that's exactly what fjords are full of. The Misty Fjords get their name from the clouds that hang around the tops of the mountains, and they were especially beautiful yesterday. 

From the very beginning, it was a beautiful day for a boat ride! The sights left me breathless, and the wildlife was amazing! Yesterday I was reminded how lucky I am to live in this wonderful place. I was on a boat with 60 people on the vacation of a lifetime, and it was another day at work for me! I am so thankful for the decision I made to come here every single day! 

Speaking of wildlife, yesterday was full of it! There were Dall's Porpoise almost from the very beginning. These cute little porpoises are very energetic, and the dart through the water right at the surface leaving a very distinctive tail spray! We saw several different pods of them along the way. We also saw a beautiful Humpback whale! It was lazily swimming along through one of the straits, and even waved at us with it's beautiful pectoral flipper. There were some beautiful birds seen throughout the day as well Harlequin ducks, Pigeon Guillemots, Marbled Murrelets, Buffleheads, and of course Bald Eagles just to name a few!

But the highlight of the day was the Alaskan Brown Bear that we saw on the shore along Punchbowl cove. While in Punchbowl we were admiring all of the beautiful waterfalls, due to all the rain here in the Tongass National Forest. Then our captain let us know that he had seen a "furry rock with ears." There are only a few bears seen on our tours each year, so we were very excited. 

Misty Fjords was a magical place. There were cliffs that went straight up out of the water and ribbon waterfalls that went where ever the wind would take them. The geological features left from the glaciers were breathtaking. It is very hard to describe the Misty's, so I just hope you can get a sense of how wonderful this place is from the pictures!