Stephens Passage
An all-night run from the Inian Islands of Icy Strait, around the north tip of Admiralty Island, and south in Stephens Passage found us entering one of the premier fjords of Southeast Alaska – Endicott Arm. Extending 30 miles northward from Dawes Glacier into Holkham Inlet, Endicott is a classic glacier-carved, u-shaped valley. Broad mountains to 5000 feet have been polished smooth by the relentless forces of billions of tons of slowly moving ice, imbedded in which were huge boulders, rocks, gravel, fine sand, and glacial flour. These make up the rasping force that does the carving and polishing. The morning mist combined with broken clouds and bursts of sunshine to send brilliant reflections off the rounded rock forms.
Names have been awarded to most great geographical features in coastal Alaska. Endicott Arm was named by the US Navy in 1889 to honour William C. Endicott, Secretary of War under President Grover Cleveland. Dawes Glacier, on the other hand, is a second name applied to this feature, which originates on the British Columbia/Alaska border. John Muir explored the area in 1880 and named it for his companion, Rev. S. Hall Young. The US Geological Survey later renamed it to honour Henry L. Dawes, a Massachusetts statesman.
Bundled in all of our warm clothes, we set off to explore the face of the glacier by Zodiac, or to propel silent kayaks through the myriad shapes and sizes of drifting ice. Small “calvings” of ice from the glacier’s face – ice balls and shards - often signal bigger things to come. And so it was that an astonishingly large section of the 200-foot-high tower of blue came crashing down - seemingly in slow motion, but with thundering power. In our tiny boats we watched in awe. A tsunami-like wave erupted, roaring along the shear-rock shoreline, splashing high and reflecting outward. At a safe quarter-mile distance, we bounced about like toys. One wonders if anything in nature can be as impressive and exciting as the tidewater glaciers that have shaped the Earth.
It had been a fine week in the wilderness. Nosing Sea Lion into a waterfall, watching for more wildlife, laughing in the lounge and celebrating with the Captain at dinner would be a fitting end to a lifetime experience.
An all-night run from the Inian Islands of Icy Strait, around the north tip of Admiralty Island, and south in Stephens Passage found us entering one of the premier fjords of Southeast Alaska – Endicott Arm. Extending 30 miles northward from Dawes Glacier into Holkham Inlet, Endicott is a classic glacier-carved, u-shaped valley. Broad mountains to 5000 feet have been polished smooth by the relentless forces of billions of tons of slowly moving ice, imbedded in which were huge boulders, rocks, gravel, fine sand, and glacial flour. These make up the rasping force that does the carving and polishing. The morning mist combined with broken clouds and bursts of sunshine to send brilliant reflections off the rounded rock forms.
Names have been awarded to most great geographical features in coastal Alaska. Endicott Arm was named by the US Navy in 1889 to honour William C. Endicott, Secretary of War under President Grover Cleveland. Dawes Glacier, on the other hand, is a second name applied to this feature, which originates on the British Columbia/Alaska border. John Muir explored the area in 1880 and named it for his companion, Rev. S. Hall Young. The US Geological Survey later renamed it to honour Henry L. Dawes, a Massachusetts statesman.
Bundled in all of our warm clothes, we set off to explore the face of the glacier by Zodiac, or to propel silent kayaks through the myriad shapes and sizes of drifting ice. Small “calvings” of ice from the glacier’s face – ice balls and shards - often signal bigger things to come. And so it was that an astonishingly large section of the 200-foot-high tower of blue came crashing down - seemingly in slow motion, but with thundering power. In our tiny boats we watched in awe. A tsunami-like wave erupted, roaring along the shear-rock shoreline, splashing high and reflecting outward. At a safe quarter-mile distance, we bounced about like toys. One wonders if anything in nature can be as impressive and exciting as the tidewater glaciers that have shaped the Earth.
It had been a fine week in the wilderness. Nosing Sea Lion into a waterfall, watching for more wildlife, laughing in the lounge and celebrating with the Captain at dinner would be a fitting end to a lifetime experience.
