2017 Alaska adventure - Valdez Day 2

Today started off very overcast and cloudy but we decided to take a chance on taking a glacier cruise out of Valdez on the Prince William Sound on the Lu Lu Belle. This is the ship that we took on Sunday the Church on the Sea service. We are so happy that we took this excursion. The captain built the ship in the 70s and has been making the excursions on Prince William Sound since 1975. The Lu Lu Belle only holds 20 passengers so it is a smaller ship and can get in closer to the mountains and glaciers than the larger ships. At times he had the boat into the mouths of mountain caves so close that we could reach out and touch both sides of the caves by hand if we wanted.

The fog cleared in the Sound so we were easily able to see the wildlife and glacier. It was very chilly though. Around the glacier the air was 32 degrees. Everything was so beautiful that we didn’t mind the chill and we brought several layers of clothing. We were able to see 2 instances of the calving of the Columbia glacier. For wildlife we saw sea lions, puffins, dolphins, and 1 whale. So it was a very successful tour.

The captain provided commentary for the whole trip (9 hours) of the history of Valdez, glaciers, Sound, and Alaska in general. He was extremely informative. If anyone plans a trip to Valdez, I highly recommend taking a trip on the Lu Lu Belle.

Prince William Sound is so beautiful with the mountains, glaciers, and abundant wildlife. It truly feels as if this is a place in a different world.