Le Conte Bay/Petersburg, Southeast Alaska
Such a variety we experienced today! Sunshine and rain, ocean and terra firma, lush forest and open peat bog, diminutive murrelets and regal bald eagles, helicopters and float planes, vertebrates and invertebrates, fishing vessels and Zodiacs, glaciers and brash ice, small fishing village and wilderness. Civilization and the primeval were the themes of our expedition. We’ve run the gamut. This morning we arose surrounded by ice, fearful that the Sea Lion might run amok on one of those impressive blue behemoths, but our fears were unfounded. Expertly navigating through these floating Frigidaires, first on the large vessel and then so close to the flotilla in the Zodiacs that we could grasp one and pull it into the boat, we marveled at the ancient ice before us. Michaelangelo could not have crafted more beautiful artwork than the ice sculptures we saw today. These impressive forms were wrought by hundreds of years of snow deposition, slow flow and rock entrainment, catastrophic calving events, and finally aquatic erosion, either through gentle tidal currents lapping against the underside of the work in progress or dripping melt water channeling through the larger mass. In combination, these forces have created an ever-changing tableau of ice armies, marching down the Le Conte fjord.
After much picture-snapping, we left the water to gain aerial views of the mother of these floating wonders: the glacier itself. Some of us gripped the seat of the plane as the pilot deftly flew low and fast over the yawning crevasses, while others left indelible nose-prints on the windows, our faces glued to the scene unfolding below. Hundreds of harbor seal mothers and their young reclined far below on the icebergs. Suddenly, the glacier itself lay before us, its shimmering expanse unfathomable to those who have not seen it. Surely this view alone is reason enough to visit southeast Alaska. Returning with adrenalin pumping, we plunged into the forest for our next adventure: exploring the wet muskeg. A totally different habitat than we had viewed before lay between the acidic pools dotting the hillside, flanked by dwarf shore pines that look like stunted bonsai. Crouching low on the boardwalk trail, we leaned over to view miniature bog cranberry and bog blueberry flowers, pink stars twinkling amongst the darker green background. Rubbing Labrador tea leaves between our fingers, we inhaled deeply the spicy, crisp fragrance and reminisced about bold Boston bourgeois who protested British tea taxes by sipping only this local delicacy. An ever-aware Sitka black-tailed deer peered at us with curiosity and tolerance.
How much more could we want in a day? How about an amazing crab feast to celebrate the opening of the Dungeness season? Yum! The more we seek and experience, the more we are rewarded and fulfilled. The more we learn about this land and its inhabitants, the people, the animals, and the plants, the stronger we feel connected with Nature, both here and in our own local areas. We will surely return to look around our own homes with a greater appreciation.
Such a variety we experienced today! Sunshine and rain, ocean and terra firma, lush forest and open peat bog, diminutive murrelets and regal bald eagles, helicopters and float planes, vertebrates and invertebrates, fishing vessels and Zodiacs, glaciers and brash ice, small fishing village and wilderness. Civilization and the primeval were the themes of our expedition. We’ve run the gamut. This morning we arose surrounded by ice, fearful that the Sea Lion might run amok on one of those impressive blue behemoths, but our fears were unfounded. Expertly navigating through these floating Frigidaires, first on the large vessel and then so close to the flotilla in the Zodiacs that we could grasp one and pull it into the boat, we marveled at the ancient ice before us. Michaelangelo could not have crafted more beautiful artwork than the ice sculptures we saw today. These impressive forms were wrought by hundreds of years of snow deposition, slow flow and rock entrainment, catastrophic calving events, and finally aquatic erosion, either through gentle tidal currents lapping against the underside of the work in progress or dripping melt water channeling through the larger mass. In combination, these forces have created an ever-changing tableau of ice armies, marching down the Le Conte fjord.
After much picture-snapping, we left the water to gain aerial views of the mother of these floating wonders: the glacier itself. Some of us gripped the seat of the plane as the pilot deftly flew low and fast over the yawning crevasses, while others left indelible nose-prints on the windows, our faces glued to the scene unfolding below. Hundreds of harbor seal mothers and their young reclined far below on the icebergs. Suddenly, the glacier itself lay before us, its shimmering expanse unfathomable to those who have not seen it. Surely this view alone is reason enough to visit southeast Alaska. Returning with adrenalin pumping, we plunged into the forest for our next adventure: exploring the wet muskeg. A totally different habitat than we had viewed before lay between the acidic pools dotting the hillside, flanked by dwarf shore pines that look like stunted bonsai. Crouching low on the boardwalk trail, we leaned over to view miniature bog cranberry and bog blueberry flowers, pink stars twinkling amongst the darker green background. Rubbing Labrador tea leaves between our fingers, we inhaled deeply the spicy, crisp fragrance and reminisced about bold Boston bourgeois who protested British tea taxes by sipping only this local delicacy. An ever-aware Sitka black-tailed deer peered at us with curiosity and tolerance.
How much more could we want in a day? How about an amazing crab feast to celebrate the opening of the Dungeness season? Yum! The more we seek and experience, the more we are rewarded and fulfilled. The more we learn about this land and its inhabitants, the people, the animals, and the plants, the stronger we feel connected with Nature, both here and in our own local areas. We will surely return to look around our own homes with a greater appreciation.
