Ok how does one describe Glacier Bay? The scale of the location is enormous. To think of this very large cruise ship cruising up the bay and next to glaciers and feeling so small against the background. It is hard to comprehend the size of the glaciers like Margerie, Grand Pacific and John Hopkins all around a mile wide where the glacier meets the water and 500 to 600 feet thick counting what is below the sea. The glacier above the sea towered over the ship at 250+ feets. It was a glorious day for weather while we could only at times see the mountains in the background I believe having the clouds gave us better lighting for pictures and seeing that a perfectly clear day would have. Not perfect weather but great. We spend 3-4 hours out on the front of the ship just marveling at the panorama as we traveled up the bay to Grand Pacific and Margerie Glaciers.
We were bundled in layers against the cold but it was so worth it to just watch the glaciers go by
. The ship came to a stop and rested in front of Margerie Glacier for 30 to 45 minutes. There were passengers out on all outside decks on the side of glaciers to get good views. Not super crowded the weather obviously made it so folks, besides us and some other hardy souls, stay out only for short periods of time. After we got under way again to go to John Hopkins Bay a bay off the main Glacier Bay channel and part of the National Park also we got lunch and had it on our balcony enjoying the views as the ship slowly passed down the bay.
We were again on deck for John Hopkins Glacier where we again stopped for 30 minutes or so before slowly cruising back out of the park. It was interesting that when we entered the park 2 rangers and 2 Alaskan Geographic society personnel got on the ship. The ranges were the only ones who could use the public address system while in the park and they pointed out various aspects of the land and animals on the shore when they saw them. There was 2 wolves spotted, goats, eagles, sea otters resting on the ice and a seal on some ice
. The binoculars were definitely useful to be able to clearly see the animals.
There was a portable National Park shop set up and everything while the rangers were on board. They also gave a half hour presentation on the park. It was really a incredible experience for all of us.
Some Glacier Bay National Park facts:
Covering 3.3 million acres of rugged mountains, dynamic glaciers, temperate rainforest, wild coastlines and deep sheltered fjords, Glacier Bay National Park is a highlight of Alaska's Inside Passage and part of a 25-million acre World Heritage Site—one of the world’s largest international protected areas.
A journey through Glacier Bay is more than a journey through geography. It's a journey through time. We begin in the modern age and finish in the ice age, traveling north from the forested lower bay to the rocky, icy upper bay (roughly 65 miles/105km). We pass through hundreds of bold changes and subtle transitions where plants and animals pioneer new ground and surprise even the most seasoned observers of nature
. A bear crosses a glacier. A moose swims an inlet. A seedling spruce emerges from granite, reaching for the sky. Life is tough and tenacious here. No wonder Glacier Bay holds powerful stories, and attracts scientists, preservationists, and travelers from around the world.
One of those scientists was a plant ecologist from Minnesota, a quiet man with an easy smile who studied relationships. He came to Glacier Bay in 1916, and over several decades returned many times to make careful observations. His name was William S. Cooper. What he found so inspired him—a wild land, undefiled, untamed, returning to life in the wake of glacial recession—that he shared his findings with colleagues at the Ecological Society of America. Might it be possible, they asked, to preserve Glacier Bay? To keep it wild; as a place where nature can unfold in ways that will teach and enlighten us forever? Cooper knew the history of Glacier Bay. Tlingit people had occupied the area for countless generations, living in the shadows of glaciers, prospering from the bounty of the land and sea
. Captain George Vancouver had sailed the area in 1794, and created a rough map that showed the bay filled with a single great glacier. Eighty-five years after Vancouver, naturalist/preservationist John Muir had visited the bay by canoe, and found the glacier receding as fast as a mile per year. Muir wrote about Glacier Bay with such lyrical heart—his words like music—that he changed America's national perception of Alaska from one of daunting cold to enchanting beauty.
Like the little plants he studied, William Cooper was tough and tenacious. Like John Muir, he found in Glacier Bay a power that inspired him to become something more than what he had been. He wrote letters, made personal appeals, and suffered criticism. No great act of public lands conservation is made without a fight. It paid off in 1925 when Glacier Bay became a national monument. Fifty-five years later, President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that created Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve…it would have made William Cooper smile and John Muir sing
.
WOW what views - Glacier Bay National Park
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, United States
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2025-02-12