Dawn and Kit from Above and Beyond pick us up at 6:30am. It’s raining lightly and a little cold but we are keen to get started on the adventure anyway. Down to the Juneau dock area, we park and unpack first the kayaks, then all the gear and transport them down to the jetty. Here, it’s a bit of Tetris to get tents, food, clothing and safety gear into three kayaks but it is eventually achieved. The captain of our tour boat likes everything to be ready so kayaks must be fully packed and ready to launch. (This is different to Glacier Bay trips, where gear is stored inside and passed out once the departure point is reached).

Our boat, the Captain Cook, pulls up and, as if on cue, a tour group arrives and files on board. We quickly load the kayaks, then snag an inside table for the three hour trip down to Tracey Arm. It’s an uneventful journey that probably would be quite scenic if not for the grey murky sky, constant drizzle and cool wind. Even when a whale is sighted, trips outside are quick and the crew stay busy wiping the windows with anti fog and squeegees. People are obviously cold.

Tracey Arm is a twenty five mile long fjord with two tidewater glaciers at it’s Y shaped head. It is steep walled, wide and very deep, up to 1000ft of water in places. The boat stops frequently for close up views of icebergs – the biggest we have seen- and waterfalls. I’m glad we will get even closer views from the kayaks. Eventually we reach the drop off point, right in front of south sawyer glacier. It’s not the biggest tidewater glacier we have seen, that would be the Marjorie in Glacier Bay, but it’s no less impressive and calving huge ice chunks at a steady rate. The boat edges in quite close and Dawn advises that we should get further away from the face quickly once we have launched – she thinks a whole part of the face looks likely to break off. The kayaks are lowered over the side, one at a time, using ropes and then it’s our turn to climb down the ladder and into the cockpit. I’m first and I don’t plan on swimming in the icy water. One of the passengers has already questioned our sanity at going out into the open for three days in the cold and rain. We become tourist attractions as we launch the boats and paddle away, I catch glimpses of flashes snapping and see a lot of people outside watching, fascinated.

By the time Dawn and Kit join us in the water, I have spotted some seals lounging on icebergs. They instantly become my mission, although Dawn cautions that seals are more stressed out of the water so we shouldn’t approach them too closely, especially as it is pup season. Luckily, I have my telephoto lens, so an in-kayak lens change is my first skill learnt. We are heading nearer to a likely photo candidate when there is a loud crack – large parts of the glacier face are exploding down into the water. Dawn shouts to us to back paddle, keeping our bow facing towards the glacier. We watch more ice shower down, landing with impressive splashes. A series of huge waves, at least a two metre swell and laced with ice, begins rippling towards us. Soon it is pointless paddling anymore and we brace ourselves to balance as the waves wash beneath. This was a spectacular event, one not everyone gets to see or ride out. Luckily, we were far enough away and experienced enough to handle the situation with little danger but for the uninitiated it could be quite scary.

The Captain Cook dwarfed by the South Sawyer glacier

The face begins to calve

Finally, I get to take a few chilled out seal shots and also a few more of seals as they pop their heads above the surface, take a quick look and duck under again. This happens frequently in this part of the fjord. So many seals. The other impressive thing in this area is the icebergs – big and small, from transparent to brilliant blue – they are all around…once again, Dawn warns not to get too close to the big ones as they can topple at any time. We paddle regretfully away from the South Sawyer towards Sawyer island. This is where we will spend the night but it’s basically a big pile of steep rocks and the tide is way too low for us to have a hope of getting out of kayaks and unloading gear. When we do this later, it’s quite a tricky thing and I’m glad there are no cameras. Whilst waiting for the tide, we paddle against the current up to North Sawyer glacier, another big tidewater glacier, for a look. Not so many icebergs calving here but many gorgeous waterfalls and an interesting shoreline. It is an easy glide back to Sawyer Island.

We land on Sawyer island quite late in the evening, not that you’d know as the sun is still high and immediately start to set up camp. One hitch – we don’t seem to have tent poles – oops…we look around and yep, no poles. Dawn quickly grabs the guide’s tent for us, despite protests, and insists she and Kit will be fine under a fly. It is drizzling and we are not totally convinced but they are younger and tougher than us, so we take the tent. Dinner is prepared quickly and beer consumed. We certainly eat well on this trip. At 10:30pm, with the sun beginning to wane, we crawl gratefully into our cosy sleeping bags and drift off to sleep.