Glacier Bay National Park
Our day started with low-hanging clouds and layers of mist providing a moody backdrop to our morning exploration of Glacier Bay National Park. After breakfast we reached the South Marble Islands, home to several colonies of sea lions and seemingly numberless birds, including the tufted puffins with their bright orange beaks. Continuing up Glacier Bay we saw mountain goats and brown bears. Park Service ranger, Kelly Vandenburg, provided an informative talk on the basic geology of Glacier Bay. After lunch we reached our meeting place of the Grand Pacific and Margerie glaciers. As if by magic the overcast began to lift like a curtain in a theater. Mountains previously hidden from view gradually took shape. Finally, the full beauty of rock and ice stood revealed as we entered Johns Hopkins Inlet. We paused at the face of the Lamplugh Glacier and then passed the Reid Glacier as we slowly made our way down Glacier Bay on our way back to the park headquarters and lodge at Bartlett Cove. Along the way, Kim Heacox, the National Geographic representative, entertained us with a reading from one of his books. Following dinner many of us enjoyed a twilight hike through an old-growth forest. What made it especially remarkable was that at least two-hundred feet of glacier ice covered the area when Captain George Vancouver sailed by here in 1794 on one of his voyages of discovery.
Our day started with low-hanging clouds and layers of mist providing a moody backdrop to our morning exploration of Glacier Bay National Park. After breakfast we reached the South Marble Islands, home to several colonies of sea lions and seemingly numberless birds, including the tufted puffins with their bright orange beaks. Continuing up Glacier Bay we saw mountain goats and brown bears. Park Service ranger, Kelly Vandenburg, provided an informative talk on the basic geology of Glacier Bay. After lunch we reached our meeting place of the Grand Pacific and Margerie glaciers. As if by magic the overcast began to lift like a curtain in a theater. Mountains previously hidden from view gradually took shape. Finally, the full beauty of rock and ice stood revealed as we entered Johns Hopkins Inlet. We paused at the face of the Lamplugh Glacier and then passed the Reid Glacier as we slowly made our way down Glacier Bay on our way back to the park headquarters and lodge at Bartlett Cove. Along the way, Kim Heacox, the National Geographic representative, entertained us with a reading from one of his books. Following dinner many of us enjoyed a twilight hike through an old-growth forest. What made it especially remarkable was that at least two-hundred feet of glacier ice covered the area when Captain George Vancouver sailed by here in 1794 on one of his voyages of discovery.
