Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness Area
A gentle hydrating rain nourished our skin and imaginations as it fed the silver ribbons of waterfalls dangling from the clouds. Surely there must be mountains up there, but for this morning, peaks and mountaintops were rumors in the mist.
Endicott Arm, of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, terminates with a despondent glacier: blue, brooding and as cold as, well, ice. With an antagonistic view towards gravity, Dawes Glacier complains its way to the sea with an impressive repertoire; resounding groans, explosive rumbles, and sudden detonations ending in thunderous splashes of bobbing icebergs, bergie bits and a generous smattering of growlers. What was moments ago an imposing wall of ice, has now been reduced to bits that now bob as shattered shards, ultimately melting and melding with the seawater.
We invited three Forest Service rangers aboard that were camping in and paddling about Endicott Arm. We spent time listening to snippets of the passionate arguments visionaries made decades ago, people that recognized the profound need of the soul to have a refuge such as this place. The recipe for preservation of wilderness starts with a land that retains its primeval character, the quality of being “untrammeled” heightens the pristine element; add the time factor of perpetuity and the result is a place to feast the eyes and renew the spirit.
Progress has many definitions, it can be to move forward, develop and “enhance” an area, but progress can also be achieved by leaving things entirely alone, pristine, immaculate, unspoiled, and as was argued many years ago, untrammeled. This is what we sought, and today that is what we found in the wilderness and wildness as we embraced Endicott Arm.
Iceberg by Barbara Christiani
Ancient ice sculptures
Beauty and time hang balanced
In calm cold waters
Two Limericks by Selden Hall
A Lindblad boat named Sea Bird
Brought us to places unheard
Zipped by sturdy Zodiacs
To Glaciers and kayaks
A week so full tis blurred.
Whales and sea lions, porpoise and puffins
Eagles galore, bear and goats close in
Called us
And enthralled us
As Sea Bird and Naturalists added their spin.
