Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay was wrapped in a pea-soup fog, as our ranger-for-the-day, Kelly Vandenberg, came on board the National Geographic Sea Lion at 6 A.M.,. Not a good sign, we thought, but our optimistic ranger and natural history staff assured us that the fog would eventually lift and we would have a decent day. The optimists were right and wrong. The fog did lift very quickly, but the day was not decent – it was brilliant with blue sky and sunshine predominant. Even the uncommonly seen Mt. Fairweather (at 15,300 feet) was very visible rising almost vertically above the sea along the mountain crest.
Just after breakfast we reached the South Marble Islands which was all about the birds. Amid a cacophony of sounds, the kittiwakes stood out, seemingly saying their own name over and over. The black oystercatchers joined in the chorus, along with a rumbling bass line from the Stellar sea lions lounging in the wings. Everyone’s favorite, the tufted puffin, was abundantly present as were common murres, pigeon guillemots, pelagic commorants, and a variety of gulls.
The next stop was Tidal Inlet, where we saw a huge mass of rock that is beginning to slip off the mountainside. If it falls en-masse into the inlet it will create a splash hundreds of feet high that could create giant waves in Glacier Bay. Fortunately the U.S. Geological Survey is monitoring the situation.
Just to the northwest is Gloomy Knob. This drab grey pile of rock actually has a very exciting geologic history, including a former life as a tropical reef residing in the Southern Ocean near what is now Australia. To make a long story short, it hitched a ride on some oceanic plates and ended up residing in SE Alaska. It is also a perfect habitat for mountain goats, of which we saw eight, in varying stages of repose.
Next up was Russell Cut—this was our bear habitat du jour. Faye one-upped the natural history staff by getting the first spot—two brown bears almost effortlessly turning over boulders and grazing on mussels along the shoreline. Shortly thereafter we found a mama brown bear with three cubs to bring our total to six.
After lunch we arrived in Johns Hopkins inlet, one of the world’s most scenic localities. Surrounded by peaks of 10,000 feet or more, glaciers descend majestically into the sea. Here we witnessed blocks of ice the size of 15 story buildings crashing into the water with a tremendous boom that the Tlingits called “sumdum”, which in their language means “white thunder”.
After dinner we had the opportunity to stretch our legs on a very well constructed trail and boardwalk at Bartlett Cove that meanders through the spruce and hemlock forest that has grown since the retreat of the glacier that Captain Vancouver observed here in 1794, some 65 miles down the bay from it’s present position. Completing our hike we watched the jagged peaks of the Fairweathers thrusting up into a vivid sunset sky and realized just how lucky we were to be in this glorious place on this special day.
Glacier Bay was wrapped in a pea-soup fog, as our ranger-for-the-day, Kelly Vandenberg, came on board the National Geographic Sea Lion at 6 A.M.,. Not a good sign, we thought, but our optimistic ranger and natural history staff assured us that the fog would eventually lift and we would have a decent day. The optimists were right and wrong. The fog did lift very quickly, but the day was not decent – it was brilliant with blue sky and sunshine predominant. Even the uncommonly seen Mt. Fairweather (at 15,300 feet) was very visible rising almost vertically above the sea along the mountain crest.
Just after breakfast we reached the South Marble Islands which was all about the birds. Amid a cacophony of sounds, the kittiwakes stood out, seemingly saying their own name over and over. The black oystercatchers joined in the chorus, along with a rumbling bass line from the Stellar sea lions lounging in the wings. Everyone’s favorite, the tufted puffin, was abundantly present as were common murres, pigeon guillemots, pelagic commorants, and a variety of gulls.
The next stop was Tidal Inlet, where we saw a huge mass of rock that is beginning to slip off the mountainside. If it falls en-masse into the inlet it will create a splash hundreds of feet high that could create giant waves in Glacier Bay. Fortunately the U.S. Geological Survey is monitoring the situation.
Just to the northwest is Gloomy Knob. This drab grey pile of rock actually has a very exciting geologic history, including a former life as a tropical reef residing in the Southern Ocean near what is now Australia. To make a long story short, it hitched a ride on some oceanic plates and ended up residing in SE Alaska. It is also a perfect habitat for mountain goats, of which we saw eight, in varying stages of repose.
Next up was Russell Cut—this was our bear habitat du jour. Faye one-upped the natural history staff by getting the first spot—two brown bears almost effortlessly turning over boulders and grazing on mussels along the shoreline. Shortly thereafter we found a mama brown bear with three cubs to bring our total to six.
After lunch we arrived in Johns Hopkins inlet, one of the world’s most scenic localities. Surrounded by peaks of 10,000 feet or more, glaciers descend majestically into the sea. Here we witnessed blocks of ice the size of 15 story buildings crashing into the water with a tremendous boom that the Tlingits called “sumdum”, which in their language means “white thunder”.
After dinner we had the opportunity to stretch our legs on a very well constructed trail and boardwalk at Bartlett Cove that meanders through the spruce and hemlock forest that has grown since the retreat of the glacier that Captain Vancouver observed here in 1794, some 65 miles down the bay from it’s present position. Completing our hike we watched the jagged peaks of the Fairweathers thrusting up into a vivid sunset sky and realized just how lucky we were to be in this glorious place on this special day.
