Cruising Alaska ~ September 16, 2016 ~ Glacier Bay

Photo from National Park Service

Today we entered Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.  It covers more than 3 million acres of "rugged mountains, dynamic glaciers, temperate rain forest, wild coastlines, and deep sheltered fjords."  We had a team of park rangers on board providing commentary of what we were seeing.  It was a grey and foggy day.  Hence my photo album for this day is called "studies in blue and grey".


It was relatively early when we entered Glacier Bay.  The sea was very calm, and it was quite overcast, but still clear enough to cast a few shadows on the bay.  It was very quiet as the ship seemed to glide along.  I took this shot from our stateroom before we joined many of our fellow passengers out on the bow of the ship for viewing the glaciers up close.


As we moved further into Glacier Bay, the fog crept down the mountains.  Chunks of ice from the calving of the glaciers were visible in the water and made me wonder how many years of snowfall and compaction were visible in those ice chunks.  From time to time we could see seals and otter resting their chins on the ice chunks.

I loved this shot of the sun trying desperately to peak through.  We saw this sliver of blue for all of ten minutes before the cloud cover resumed.  This may, in fact, be my favorite picture of the entire trip.

Our first view of the Margery Glacier.  The blue-green color and its reflection in the bay took my breath away.  While I wondered what these views might look like on a sunny day, there was something special about the colors that were evoked on this grey day.

This photo shows the layers of dirt and debris that are swept up and compressed as the glacier advances.  Margery is one of the glaciers that continues to advance at a time when many are in "retreat".


 This shot captures a "calving" - albeit a small one - on the left side of the picture.  We saw a total of seven examples of calving - only one was what I would call "spectacular."  A large pillar of ice broke free on the left side of the glacier.  It inspired a collective shout of excitement from all who were watching.  Even this much smaller breaking free of ice resounded with a shout.

We were fortunate to have spent as much time in Glacier Bay as we did.  Initially, the Captain felt it was too foggy to attempt to go further into the bay, so we weren't going to get to see the John Hopkins Glacier, but then the mist cleared and we sailed further up.  All in all we were viewing glaciers for over two hours -- I have far too many shots to post (and Jeff was snapping photos all along with his fancy camera as well!).  This was truly an experience of a lifetime for both of us.


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