After a great night’s sleep and a leisurely breakfast (we
obviously didn’t tip enough last night), we ambled along a nature walk through
a spruce forest with an undergrowth of hemlock, down to the Glacier Bay tour
boat (the Baronof Wind). We were early so Neil stopped to get a photo of the
Park Ranger who would be with us today. Someone behind asked if she was a
ranger to which she replied “No, I just like the colour green” so we knew she
had a good sense of humour.
Panic set in when we reached the top of the gangway and we
realised that we didn’t have our vouchers. It looked like Neil would be doing a
quick sprint back to the Lodge but luckily the boat steward had our names on a
list and we were fine. While we waited to depart, we listened to an elder of
the Huna Tlingit tribe(Cultural Ambassador) talk about the area. Her tribe had lived
in the area from Ketchikan to Glacier Bay for thousands of years. There are
many Huna settlements now across the area but there is only one Indian
Reservation in Alaska and that is on an island. Glacier Bay is known as Bay in
place of the glacier to local people as their ancestors hunted and gathered in
the bay area until the glacier suddenly pushed down on top of the lad and then
receded leaving a massive area of water. The ranger explained later that as far
as research has shown, 500 years ago a mini ice age ended and water built up
under the glacier until a point when the ice rushed forward slipping in front
of the water and dumping a huge amount of ice in Icy Strait. Therefore that
area was not as badly eroded as other areas and is now shallower and provides a
good food source for otters, seals, sea lions and whales.
Marylou, our National Park Ranger, then went through a few
housekeeping matters like using the life jackets, using handrails while moving
around the boat and the need to yell “man overboard” if either males or females
fall overboard so that we could pick them up before hypothermia set in. Also
there were fantastic binoculars for us to use throughout the day. She gave us
some facts about the area as well
·
Glacier Bay is one of the largest protected
areas in the world (3.3million acres)
·
In 1780 the glaciers reached the Lodge we were
staying in before they started to recede. In 230 years they have receded about
100 miles
·
The flat islands in the first part of the bay
were once moraine (dirt dumped by glaciers)
·
It is a humpback whale sanctuary and we saw 2
humpbacks playing on the way back. They were breeching and flapping their tails
·
The whales eat here in summer and then swim to
Hawaii for the winter and to have their babies
·
To protect the environment there is a limit on
the number of boats that can enter the bay at any one time
·
Sea otters have no fat, a fast metabolism, a
thick coat which they fluff up to keep them warm and they eat all the time. We
saw many of them relaxing on their backs and having a feed. There are 8-9000
sea otters in Glacier Bay but 20 years ago there were only a few. Only native
people can hunt them.
·
South Marble Island is a mecca for wildlife. We
saw seals and sea lions sunbaking. (Now I’m not sure whether Chocky is a bear
or a sea lion. There are similar in attitude to work in the midday sun). We saw
thousands of birds which looked like seagulls. They go to the island to nest.
There were many puffin birds (black feathers with a huge orange beak)
·
Just after Muir Inlet which was covered in ice
in 1860, we stopped by nosing the boat into the gravel beach to pick up some
adventurers and let some off the boat with all their gear. They stay there for
up to 2 weeks to be at one with nature but they sure had a lot of supplies. I
hope they keep them well away from the bears. They were going to do some
research on bear activity so they probably knew all the rules
·
The scale of the setting is very hard to
picture. We were in 1400 ft (470 metres) of water and Mt Fairweather which is
the tallest mountain in the area is 1500ft (500m) above the surface.
·
Bald Eagles build nests on the trunks of
evergreen trees and we saw one in its nest and one flying at eye level past us
in the boat
·
Near Gloomy Knob, a river comes down to meet the
lake from Mt Merriam so there is lots of activity in the water due to the salmon
in the water. We saw mountain goats and a bit further along we saw a mama bear
(sow) and 3 cubs down at the water’s edge. As I watched the slowest cub climb
up the sand dune after his mother I thought that maybe Chocky is a bear after
all. The cub was slow and not at all enthusiastic but mum was keeping a close
eye on him. They were brown bears and they had come to the shoreline and the
river bank to eat berries and salmon. Bears avoid conflict if they can by
trying to intimidate opponents rather than fighting because they know a fight
could be fatal. Brown bears can also be black or white!!!
·
We passed Rendue glacier and we noticed icebergs
starting to appear in the water
·
Then we saw 2 glaciers which were very close together;
Margerie Glacier is made of white ice and is still growing while the Grand
Pacific Glacier is rare in that very few glaciers are made of black ice. It is
receding.
·
Our main aim had been to reach the John Hopkins
Glacier and we knew we were getting closer when the number and size of the
icebergs increased. A glacier needs year around snow to grow and the John
Hopkins and the Margerie ones both come from the same snowfield which is based
in the tallest mountains here. The John Hopkins Glacier has grown 3 miles in
the past 40 years. So scientists are now talking about global changes rather
than global warming because not all the glaciers are retreating.
·
“No words can describe the beauty of Glacier Bay”
according to our guide and that was true of the area around John Hopkins
Glacier in particular. We stopped to watch ice crashing from the front of the
glacier (it gives a whole new dimension to defrosting the freezer) and there
was silence. The engines were off and no-one was talking. Nature was in control.
·
Gilman Glacier was only 100 metres from JHG. We sat
between the two. A crew member told us that this was only the third time this
year that the boat had been able to go as far as the JHG and that was because
of the fantastic weather we had. Yes, it was a perfect blue sky day again
Unfortunately we had to go back but it was relaxing to watch
all the scenery again. All of our food and drinks were supplied by the crew and
we were totally immersed in the scenery. Then we met Richard. Richard was a member
of the Mensa group who were also on the boat and he just wanted to talk. He
worked for NASA and had retired. He did not want to watch the scenery but
glanced over whenever anyone saw an animal. Luckily we could still watch for animals
and listen to any points made by the ranger but we also find it interesting to
talk to locals. We talked about travel until he said we had seen more of the
USA than he had so then he talked about US television shows which had been
screened in Australia. He could only name 3 that we hadn’t seen and he was
shocked at the amount of American culture we had been exposed to. We thought
the man in front was getting annoyed at the talking but he turned around and
waited for a break and in a very deep Texan voice said “What about Bonanza?”.
So Richard decided to crack a couple of jokes:
·
What is the difference between a tourist and a
hitchhiker? Answer: 5 mins
·
What is the difference between ignorance and
apathy? Answer: I don’t know and I don’t care
We enjoyed talking with Richard and we seemed to amuse him
with our responses but once we docked he said goodbye.
Glacier Bay National Park (World Heritage listed) has to be
the highlight of our trip so far and we think it would have to be in the same
classification as the Grand Canyon in terms of breathtaking splendour.
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