Glacier Bay National Park
A few light clunks were heard around dawn today. I was already awake and preparing to go on deck, and by the sound knew we were on approach to Marjerie Glacier. Last night we picked up our ranger which allowed us to enter the bay and sail north under the cover of darkness. Expecting clouds, I opened the doors to clear skies overhead. Beyond Marjerie, beyond her craggy and fissured surface, the peaks of Mt. Fairweather, Mt. Quincy Adams and Mt. Salisbury were already illuminated. I used their unexpected brilliance as the perfect excuse to wake everyone up early so no-one would miss this spectacle. From many mouths I later learned this was the first such clear morning they have had in Glacier Bay National Park all summer!
Johns Hopkins Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier joined Marjerie in the list of active (i.e. calving), tidewater glaciers we visited this morning, up close and personal. The harbor seals were plentiful and resting on ice floes across the broad expanse of Johns Hopkins, so we stayed our distance to give them space and tranquility, though we got to within the regulation one-fourth mile from the faces of the other two!
As we sailed south, we watched the colonization of land by vegetation as if in a time-lapse documentary taken over millions of years. As ice retreated, plants took over; land released from the weight of ice rebounded and rose…and life appeared. A brown bear was briefly seen on shore in Geike Inlet, then disappeared as soon as everyone came out on deck again. Mountain goats grouped high on knolls reclined on a patch of snow, looking like rice grains on a spill of salt.
Just as we approached Boulder Island, focusing our attention on sea otters, Orcas were spotted ahead (at a great distance – I didn’t believe Mike’s report at first). Finally we caught up, and sure enough a male with female(s) and possibly juvenile(s) surfaced. We followed and watched at a distance. As we stayed on deck in the lowering sunlight, Emily Mount our park ranger, closed the incredible evening with a few words and a violin solo on the bow, “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar. Sea otters, goats, Steller sea lions, puffins and Orcas with a background provided by the Fairweather mountain range in the sun and blue sky; an incredible day come true.
A few light clunks were heard around dawn today. I was already awake and preparing to go on deck, and by the sound knew we were on approach to Marjerie Glacier. Last night we picked up our ranger which allowed us to enter the bay and sail north under the cover of darkness. Expecting clouds, I opened the doors to clear skies overhead. Beyond Marjerie, beyond her craggy and fissured surface, the peaks of Mt. Fairweather, Mt. Quincy Adams and Mt. Salisbury were already illuminated. I used their unexpected brilliance as the perfect excuse to wake everyone up early so no-one would miss this spectacle. From many mouths I later learned this was the first such clear morning they have had in Glacier Bay National Park all summer!
Johns Hopkins Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier joined Marjerie in the list of active (i.e. calving), tidewater glaciers we visited this morning, up close and personal. The harbor seals were plentiful and resting on ice floes across the broad expanse of Johns Hopkins, so we stayed our distance to give them space and tranquility, though we got to within the regulation one-fourth mile from the faces of the other two!
As we sailed south, we watched the colonization of land by vegetation as if in a time-lapse documentary taken over millions of years. As ice retreated, plants took over; land released from the weight of ice rebounded and rose…and life appeared. A brown bear was briefly seen on shore in Geike Inlet, then disappeared as soon as everyone came out on deck again. Mountain goats grouped high on knolls reclined on a patch of snow, looking like rice grains on a spill of salt.
Just as we approached Boulder Island, focusing our attention on sea otters, Orcas were spotted ahead (at a great distance – I didn’t believe Mike’s report at first). Finally we caught up, and sure enough a male with female(s) and possibly juvenile(s) surfaced. We followed and watched at a distance. As we stayed on deck in the lowering sunlight, Emily Mount our park ranger, closed the incredible evening with a few words and a violin solo on the bow, “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar. Sea otters, goats, Steller sea lions, puffins and Orcas with a background provided by the Fairweather mountain range in the sun and blue sky; an incredible day come true.
