Le Conte Glacier & Petersburg
Snow smoke drifted overhead in ever-shifting tendrils as we entered the Le Conte inlet. The enormous ice field was shrouded in leaden stratus and largely out of view. But the glacier’s presence was revealed by its offspring. A combination of sunny days and high tides had caused massive amounts of calving from this southern-most tidal glacier in Southeast Alaska: the fjord was choked with ice bergs of all shapes and sizes. As they drifted down the inlet many had become tumbled, sculpted, and then stranded on the sand bars and tidal flats. In our trusty Zodiacs we silently toured the floating city of bergs and then landed to get closer looks at those which had stranded.
Silt from the melting ice turned the waters milky emerald color. In contrast the ice bergs had melted to reveal a lapidary sapphire-hued interior. We wandered about this phantasmagoric landscape as though visiting an alien world. Throughout much of Southeast Alaska, glaciers have been the principle architect. Here the ice had taken on art forms of their own.
During the afternoon the clouds thickened, lowered, and finally began a steady but gentle rain. Undeterred, we crossed the channel to visit a board-walked trail which afforded us a deep incursion into the intriguing muskeg. Here we found a profusion of
unique plants adapted to soppy water-logged acid soil low in nitrogen. Heaths and mosses flourished here. Additionally we studied two insectivorous sundew species which compensate for the low nutrient level of the bog by snagging insects with sticky leaves and digesting them. Returning to Sea Bird we participated in a crustacean feeding frenzy of our own.
Snow smoke drifted overhead in ever-shifting tendrils as we entered the Le Conte inlet. The enormous ice field was shrouded in leaden stratus and largely out of view. But the glacier’s presence was revealed by its offspring. A combination of sunny days and high tides had caused massive amounts of calving from this southern-most tidal glacier in Southeast Alaska: the fjord was choked with ice bergs of all shapes and sizes. As they drifted down the inlet many had become tumbled, sculpted, and then stranded on the sand bars and tidal flats. In our trusty Zodiacs we silently toured the floating city of bergs and then landed to get closer looks at those which had stranded.
Silt from the melting ice turned the waters milky emerald color. In contrast the ice bergs had melted to reveal a lapidary sapphire-hued interior. We wandered about this phantasmagoric landscape as though visiting an alien world. Throughout much of Southeast Alaska, glaciers have been the principle architect. Here the ice had taken on art forms of their own.
During the afternoon the clouds thickened, lowered, and finally began a steady but gentle rain. Undeterred, we crossed the channel to visit a board-walked trail which afforded us a deep incursion into the intriguing muskeg. Here we found a profusion of
unique plants adapted to soppy water-logged acid soil low in nitrogen. Heaths and mosses flourished here. Additionally we studied two insectivorous sundew species which compensate for the low nutrient level of the bog by snagging insects with sticky leaves and digesting them. Returning to Sea Bird we participated in a crustacean feeding frenzy of our own.
