Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
As we walked the trails of Bartlett Cove tonight, we marveled at the spruce forest that surrounded us. It was hard to believe that all this was under ice just over 200 years ago. If not for the glacier that was at the head of this bay in 1794 when Vancouver explored this area, we would not have been able to cruise here today. Breaking all speed records for glacial retreats, the Glacier that Vancouver saw has now retreated 65 miles in a little over 200 years, creating the bays and inlets, and setting the ground for succession to proceed. Glacier Bay is now 65 miles long with many inlets fiords and tidewater glaciers. Not only did we get to enjoy the magnificence of several glaciers today, but we got to travel back through time and watch succession proceed.
Although we picked up Kevin, our ranger, at 6:00 am (yawn), most of us did not meet him until after breakfast. Soon after that we were at our first stop of the morning – South Marble Islands. The greeting committee, a group of male Stellar’s sea lions, grunted out their traditional hello as we slowly eased by them. Next we were greeted by the cries and calls of kittiwakes and others. We sighted many tufted puffins, blacklegged kittiwakes, pelagic cormorants, glaucous-winged gulls, pigeon guillemots and common murres. All of them are here due to plentiful nest sites, plentiful food and safety from mammalian predators.
Continuing north we cruised through Sandy Cove. The tide was very low, exposing the intertidal zone. The possibility of a meal had a coyote wandering the shore. Keeping our voices to whispers, we were able to slowly pass by him and watch as he pawed through seaweed and found some morsels to eat. Later in the morning, at Gloomy Knob, we found a mountain goat nanny and her kid on an impossibly steep looking section of rock and marveled at the abilities they have to move around in such places.
The afternoon was devoted to glacier watching. Lamplugh, the bluest of them all, was the first on our route. Soon afterward we passed Jaw Point and gazed 5 miles up the John Hopkins Inlet to the Glacier of the same name. This time of year, the inlet is closed to protect the seal pupping area, so we marveled at its size from a distance; hardly able to believe it was really that far away. Our final stop on our up bay trip was at Margerie Glacier where we enjoyed the hot chocolate refreshment on the bow, some more bird watching, and the peacefulness of the surrounding wilderness.
Glacier Bay is part of the largest wilderness area in the world. We are fortunate to have traveled here today and are thankful that it is preserved for future generations.
As we walked the trails of Bartlett Cove tonight, we marveled at the spruce forest that surrounded us. It was hard to believe that all this was under ice just over 200 years ago. If not for the glacier that was at the head of this bay in 1794 when Vancouver explored this area, we would not have been able to cruise here today. Breaking all speed records for glacial retreats, the Glacier that Vancouver saw has now retreated 65 miles in a little over 200 years, creating the bays and inlets, and setting the ground for succession to proceed. Glacier Bay is now 65 miles long with many inlets fiords and tidewater glaciers. Not only did we get to enjoy the magnificence of several glaciers today, but we got to travel back through time and watch succession proceed.
Although we picked up Kevin, our ranger, at 6:00 am (yawn), most of us did not meet him until after breakfast. Soon after that we were at our first stop of the morning – South Marble Islands. The greeting committee, a group of male Stellar’s sea lions, grunted out their traditional hello as we slowly eased by them. Next we were greeted by the cries and calls of kittiwakes and others. We sighted many tufted puffins, blacklegged kittiwakes, pelagic cormorants, glaucous-winged gulls, pigeon guillemots and common murres. All of them are here due to plentiful nest sites, plentiful food and safety from mammalian predators.
Continuing north we cruised through Sandy Cove. The tide was very low, exposing the intertidal zone. The possibility of a meal had a coyote wandering the shore. Keeping our voices to whispers, we were able to slowly pass by him and watch as he pawed through seaweed and found some morsels to eat. Later in the morning, at Gloomy Knob, we found a mountain goat nanny and her kid on an impossibly steep looking section of rock and marveled at the abilities they have to move around in such places.
The afternoon was devoted to glacier watching. Lamplugh, the bluest of them all, was the first on our route. Soon afterward we passed Jaw Point and gazed 5 miles up the John Hopkins Inlet to the Glacier of the same name. This time of year, the inlet is closed to protect the seal pupping area, so we marveled at its size from a distance; hardly able to believe it was really that far away. Our final stop on our up bay trip was at Margerie Glacier where we enjoyed the hot chocolate refreshment on the bow, some more bird watching, and the peacefulness of the surrounding wilderness.
Glacier Bay is part of the largest wilderness area in the world. We are fortunate to have traveled here today and are thankful that it is preserved for future generations.
