The LeConte glacier has been receding with increasing volumes of ice for the last seven years. The Sea Lion last visited the face of LeConte glacier in 1995, when calving ice from the glacier did not completely block the inlet leading to the face of the glacier. Today, we would be launching Zodiacs and touring amongst the icebergs, growlers and bergy-bits that make up the huge quantities of ice dropping from the face of LeConte glacier.
Through misting squalls of rain, a ripping in-coming flood tide, our Zodiacs moved through towering ice sculptures! Due to the 22-foot tide and the heavy flow of water many of the large icebergs were rolling and breaking up right before our eyes! Zodiac drivers maneuvered carefully in fast flowing water often mixed with bergy-bits that were slipping past our inflatable crafts. Looking off in the distance we watched the rain move in and around us as the sharp winds and tides moved ice, kelp, and water through a narrow passage and into the small shallow bay in front of the Stieckeen River delta. Our eyes began to see the otherworldly shapes of cupcake islands, distant mountains, large pieces of ice in many shades of blue, and the grayish-green of the water surrounding all these shapes. Looking up we saw clouds misting close by and in the distance, and wondered where the horizon began and ended.
