Glacier Bay National Park
The rain relented as July drew to a close and we slipped into the ocher light of Glacier Bay, with the sunrise chasing us. National Park Service Ranger Beth Brindle boarded the M.S. Sea Bird as we docked at Bartlett Cove, and soon we resumed our northbound journey toward Tarr Inlet. Beth offered a gracious welcome to Glacier Bay and told us the story of how this bay didn’t exist just 200 years ago. It was occupied by one massive glacier that has since retreated to unveil a new land, home for whale and wolf, brown bear and bufflehead, halibut and hermit thrush, mountain goat and merganser.
At our first stop, South Marble Island, we clustered on the bow to observe black-legged kittiwakes, Steller’s sea lions, common murres and the prized tufted puffins, the parrots of the sea, that flew across the bow to a tide of cheers and exclamations. Working our way up the West Arm of the bay, we cruised into Tidal Inlet and spotted a coastal brown bear that slalomed through a grove of cottonwoods.
Northbound again, we passed Gloomy Knob, circuited around Composite Island, got a great look at Rendu Glacier with its textbook medial moraines, and them proceeded up the east side of Russell Glacier. Our naturalists explained that this area was occupied by ice when John Muir first entered Glacier Bay by canoe in 1879.
After lunch we arrived at Margerie Glacier with its lofty seracs certain to fall any minute, hour, or day. Oh how it tested our patience. Finally a big column of ice collapsed into the sea and we cheered the “white thunder” of its impact, the kittiwakes circling the area to feed on small fish and shrimp flushed to the surface.
En route back down the bay, we dipped into the majestic Johns Hopkins Inlet, the wildest of all inlets in Glacier Bay, then cruised past Lamplugh Glacier – “Big Blue” Beth called it – and Reid Glacier where we could see the cabin site occupied by pioneers Joe and Muz Ibach from the summers of 1940 until 1956.
Kim Heacox told stories and offered a slide show, and after dinner we docked in Bartlett Cove for a pleasant evening of hiking through a young spruce/hemlock forest, and a chance to visit Glacier Bay lodge.
The rain relented as July drew to a close and we slipped into the ocher light of Glacier Bay, with the sunrise chasing us. National Park Service Ranger Beth Brindle boarded the M.S. Sea Bird as we docked at Bartlett Cove, and soon we resumed our northbound journey toward Tarr Inlet. Beth offered a gracious welcome to Glacier Bay and told us the story of how this bay didn’t exist just 200 years ago. It was occupied by one massive glacier that has since retreated to unveil a new land, home for whale and wolf, brown bear and bufflehead, halibut and hermit thrush, mountain goat and merganser.
At our first stop, South Marble Island, we clustered on the bow to observe black-legged kittiwakes, Steller’s sea lions, common murres and the prized tufted puffins, the parrots of the sea, that flew across the bow to a tide of cheers and exclamations. Working our way up the West Arm of the bay, we cruised into Tidal Inlet and spotted a coastal brown bear that slalomed through a grove of cottonwoods.
Northbound again, we passed Gloomy Knob, circuited around Composite Island, got a great look at Rendu Glacier with its textbook medial moraines, and them proceeded up the east side of Russell Glacier. Our naturalists explained that this area was occupied by ice when John Muir first entered Glacier Bay by canoe in 1879.
After lunch we arrived at Margerie Glacier with its lofty seracs certain to fall any minute, hour, or day. Oh how it tested our patience. Finally a big column of ice collapsed into the sea and we cheered the “white thunder” of its impact, the kittiwakes circling the area to feed on small fish and shrimp flushed to the surface.
En route back down the bay, we dipped into the majestic Johns Hopkins Inlet, the wildest of all inlets in Glacier Bay, then cruised past Lamplugh Glacier – “Big Blue” Beth called it – and Reid Glacier where we could see the cabin site occupied by pioneers Joe and Muz Ibach from the summers of 1940 until 1956.
Kim Heacox told stories and offered a slide show, and after dinner we docked in Bartlett Cove for a pleasant evening of hiking through a young spruce/hemlock forest, and a chance to visit Glacier Bay lodge.
