100 years ago the National Park system got its start in the northwest corner of Wyoming with the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. Since that pivotal moment people from around the world have made the national parks a place of pilgrimage.
Today we entered Glacier Bay National Park, one dedicated to preserving 3.3 million acres of southeast Alaska’s marine ecosystem. A strict permit system allows only so many vessels across its boarder per day and today we were the lucky ones.
Low clouds, rain, and wind greeted us early but were trumped by an early barrage of wildlife. Tufted puffins, Steller’s and California sea lions, and black oyster catchers were just a few of the species draped across, or flying over South Marble Island, the first stop of the day.
As the morning proceeded the clouds seemed to lift in step with every mile we ventured north. By the time we reached gloomy knob 40 miles north of the park entrance the rain had stopped and we were approaching another wildlife hotspot. Mountain goats peppered the damp limestone and steep, grassy slopes while a sow brown bear and cub grazed on the tender grasses near waterline. Then, as if on belay, a lone black bear was spotted climbing a precipitous face before reaching the ridgeline, offering a rare profile of this perky eared omnivore.
North another 20 miles and we were in glacier country. At the junction of the Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers two worlds collided. The Grand Pacific is a dark, dying mass of ice covered in debris responsible for the eviction of the Glacier Bay Tlingit peoples over 300 years ago as it advanced up to and over their traditional homeland at the head of the bay. Now, in its dying state, and despite its legacy, it is still respected by descendants of those early Tlingit. To its west is the magnificently white, active Margerie glacier, a stark contrast to its close neighbor.
From the face of the Margerie our trip back down bay began and the sun was out in full force. Numerous glaciers crossed our bow on our way back to the Bartlett Cove Ranger Station where our voyage began this morning. As the sun sank over the Fairweather mountain range the value of our National Park legacy could not be more evident.
