Glacier Bay National Park
Anytime you can get a look at the peaks of the Fairweather Range that rise majestically above Glacier Bay, you know you’re having a good weather day. When you can see the whole range all day long, as we did today, it has to be considered fabulous! But fabulous is what we got from the get go, with killer whales before breakfast, followed by killer whales after breakfast and later in the morning a close-up view of three brown bears gorging themselves in the intertidal zone. We also saw a half dozen of mountain goats demonstrating their climbing and snoozing skills at Gloomy Knob.
Wildlife sightings are nice and a big part of the reason that most of us are on this trip. However, wildlife here is just a big bonus because Glacier Bay is all about ice. We had great views of the present day glaciers (especially the Margerie and Grand Pacific) and the spectacular landscapes that they have created. What is left to the imagination is how it must have appeared just 250 years ago when it was filled with glacial ice that extended all the way to the mouth of the Bay, 65 miles from the terminus of the Margerie.
An intriguing sidelight is to track the recovery of the forests that were completely obliterated by the grinding ice. We could clearly see the succession from the rocky barrens of the ice margins to pioneer plant communities, to alder and willows and finally to the climax forest composed of Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock at Bartlett Cove. Add it all together and we arrive at a much better concept of the cycle of life that is the essential element of living on our planet.
Anytime you can get a look at the peaks of the Fairweather Range that rise majestically above Glacier Bay, you know you’re having a good weather day. When you can see the whole range all day long, as we did today, it has to be considered fabulous! But fabulous is what we got from the get go, with killer whales before breakfast, followed by killer whales after breakfast and later in the morning a close-up view of three brown bears gorging themselves in the intertidal zone. We also saw a half dozen of mountain goats demonstrating their climbing and snoozing skills at Gloomy Knob.
Wildlife sightings are nice and a big part of the reason that most of us are on this trip. However, wildlife here is just a big bonus because Glacier Bay is all about ice. We had great views of the present day glaciers (especially the Margerie and Grand Pacific) and the spectacular landscapes that they have created. What is left to the imagination is how it must have appeared just 250 years ago when it was filled with glacial ice that extended all the way to the mouth of the Bay, 65 miles from the terminus of the Margerie.
An intriguing sidelight is to track the recovery of the forests that were completely obliterated by the grinding ice. We could clearly see the succession from the rocky barrens of the ice margins to pioneer plant communities, to alder and willows and finally to the climax forest composed of Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock at Bartlett Cove. Add it all together and we arrive at a much better concept of the cycle of life that is the essential element of living on our planet.
