The Sea Wolf Trip By Emily

On May 5th and 6th we went on a boat called the Sea Wolf. The Sea Wolf’s owner, Kimber, donated the boat trip for free for our class. It is hard to decide what my favorite part was because there were so many great parts on the trip. I learned about glaciers, the history of Glacier Bay, and about some of the geology of Glacier Bay. We traveled up the East Arm of the bay and collected data at the Ice Valley stream. The first night we kayaked after dinner and watched the sunset. It was so quiet that everyone seemed like a part of nature. All we could hear were the sounds of different birds and the occasional swish from a kayak paddle. That night the girls slept in the salon and the boys slept downstairs.

The next day we traveled almost all the way up the bay and hiked a mile and a half to get right next to Riggs Glacier. Tasha and I even ate a little bit of the glacier! The feeling of eating 100+ year old ice was very odd…the ice was tasted more pure than the water in Gustavus even though it was 100+ years old! We had a lunch date with Riggs Glacier, and then started to hike back to the shore to be picked up by the skiff.

When we got back on the boat we practiced pen-and-ink drawings with Marylin. She is an amazing artist. All of her drawings are done in pen. The details on the drawings are exquisitely beautiful. One of her drawings is of a bear, and every single hair on the bear is in the perfect spot. She really knows how to draw. We drew on clayboards that we are displaying in our classroom. A clayboard is a small 4x4 square covered with a very thin layer of clay. You paint the outline of your shape with an ink pen, then color the whole shape in with the ink pen. Lastly, you use a scraper to carve out the details in you picture.

Throughout the trip, Greg and Chad made up fun contests that helped us look and observe. The first contest was who could find the most interesting rock. Sammy won, and she got a rubber duck from Greg. The second contest was who could find the first iceberg. Rowan screamed out, “Iceberg!” at dinner and scared us. He won a moose keychain and when you push its butt down chocolate candies come out! The last contest was who could find the first cormorant. Bethany won that contest at South Marble Island, and she got a plastic dragon and when you pull its tail it shoots out another piece of plastic that looks like fire. I never won a contest, but I still had fun looking for the objects.

The Sea Wolf trip was the most amazing trip I have ever been on. Kimber was so generous to donate this trip to us. I wish I got to go again, but I am a fifth grader and will be in middle-school next year. THANK YOU KIMBER!!