When Jeff, the captain of the Island Spirit, announced that Saturday’s activity out of Petersburg would be a jet boat ride, I decided to take it. But I didn’t expect much, because riding on a fast boat doesn’t excite me like nature does. Fortunately, we had both.

On the jet boat ride we went as fast as 48 mph — but only in the first few miles. Then we reached the ice flow from Le Conte Glacier. The glacier is a few miles southwest of Petersburg in the Stikine-Le Conte Wilderness in an arm of Alaska’s Inside Passage. There, we had to crawl along, often at no more than 1 mph.

When we came in view of the glacier, the ice was so thick that we could go no further.

The Le Conte Glacier and the Ice Flowing from It

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We passed much ice to get that far. The icebergs had their own individuality.

Ice

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We saw several bald eagles. I don’t remember how many — four or five. But for the first time in my life I saw two bald eagles together.

Bald Eagles on Ice

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After our journey to the Le Conte Glacier, we returned to the ship. After lunch, our journey took us north through the Frederick Sound. At 8 p.m. the sun was beginning to sink. But first it illuminated this mountain range to the west.

Mountain Peaks Between Sea and Clouds

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The moral of this story is to take each opportunity that comes our way. Unless you try it, you’ll never know that a jet boat can reveal the hidden beauty of nature.