Take an adventure cruise: experience Alaska by small ship and kayak, and you'll burn significant calories while encountering ice-blue glaciers and breaching whales - Ventureout

Shape, June, 2002 by Alexa Joy Sherman

When I hear the word cruise, generally think of something akin to The Love Boat -- as in too much food, cheesy lounge entertainment and shuffleboard with Grandma. But after taking a midsummer seven-day REI adventure cruise in Glacier Bay -- the jewel of southeastern Alaska -- my perspective changed completely.

The decadent cuisine was certainly abundant, but we easily burned it off on daily kayaking and hiking excursions. Meanwhile, instead of a stage-side view of Charo doing the "cuchi-cuchi," I got a front-row seat to whales breaching, bald eagles soaring, bears grazing and ice-blue glaciers "calving" (that is, thunderously shifting and dropping enormous masses of ice) -- all with a kaleidoscopic backdrop of coastal rain forests and snowcapped mountains.

Rookie on board

To be honest, though, I had some reservations about the cruise, aside from the one that guaranteed me a spot on the 17-cabin, 34-passenger Wilderness Explorer (aka WEX). For starters, REI, a national outdoor-gear company, had coordinated the trip -- and I wasn't exactly an experienced outdoorswoman. Plus, I'd never paddled a kayak, let alone floated next to entities that I thought might topple me into the icy waters. Finally, I'd be traveling solo, and while some might call me outgoing, making new friends sounded far more formidable than kayaking or hiking for four to six hours a day.

But after meeting REI's spirited leader, Joe Staiano, and the rest of the group in the Alaskan capital of Juneau, my qualms began to subside. We hopped a fleet of small planes to Gustavus (a town completely under ice just over 200 years ago) and spent a cozy night at the Glacier Bay Lodge. On board the WEX, we settled into cabins that were small but adequate, with en suite "bathrooms" we promptly dubbed "shoilets" (a combo shower/toilet stall).

During the kayak demonstration on the upper deck, I was assured that it was almost impossible to capsize the two-person sea kayaks we'd be paddling. I even found a fast friend and paddling partner in Kim Sumida, another solo, 30-something woman on the cruise.

A shipload of fun

For the next several days, Captain Sara Darra navigated the WEX through the fjords and remote areas of "the world's largest protected marine sanctuary," selecting prime locations for optimum wildlife and scenery viewing. After a day of exhilarating paddling, we'd return to piping-hot coffee, cookies and brownies in the ship's dining room. Happy hour in the lounge was next, where crab dip and cocktails were accompanied by close-up views of baby seals perched on icebergs, sea lions basking on jagged rocks and orcas leaping above the waves. Throughout the trip, the boat's lead naturalist disclosed fascinating details about everything we saw. A delicious dinner was usually followed by games of Pictionary or cards with our gregarious group -- if we didn't pass out from the thrills (and exhaustion) first.

At one with the water

And what thrills they were! On our first day of kayaking, less than an hour after paddling into Icy Strait we heard a whooshing "PFFFF!" off in the distance, then saw three humpback whales spouting and arching above the glassy waters up ahead. Without hesitation, we paddled toward them, hoping to get a closer shot of the great creatures on film (although our naturalist cautioned us to keep a safe distance). Later, after a picnic lunch and bushwhacking hike through the forest, we kayaked back to the WEX. I hardly noticed the chill in the air through my jacket and layers of fleece as a light rain began to fall, and the liquid movement of my paddle made me feel completely at one with the water.

The next day, with a pleasant soreness in my arms and the sun shining brightly overhead, we paddled alongside a playful group of dolphins as Steve Coxon, another staff naturalist, pointed out a tiny dark speck lumbering along the grassy shoreline. As quietly as possible, we moved closer to watch the black bear eat his lunch; he seemed entirely unaware of his audience snapping roll after roll of film.

On our third day of kayaking, I'm certain my biceps actually bulged as we paddled through beautiful, crystal waters - so clear we could actually see starfish mating on the floor of Glacier Bay. The weather became almost tropical -- not quite hot, but not nearly as chilly as I'd expected the entire region would be. That evening's cruise provided a perfect opportunity to glimpse even more wildlife - puffins, whales and sea lions galore.

Face to face

But our final day out truly put the "adventure" in adventure cruise. We kayaked to Lamplugh Glacier, the weather growing increasingly cold as we approached the frozen, sky-high wall of ice. After pulling our kayaks onto a nearby beach, we climbed up a rocky cliff to get a better view of the glacier. Shivering in the 50-degree air as we ate our picnic lunch, we heard a crackling boom like fireworks and thunder, then watched as a bus-sized mass of ice split from the glacier and crashed to the sea. We ran down for a better view and, keeping a safe distance from Lamplugh, took photos of each other - Lilliputian next to the fallen ice.