Glacier Bay is one of the must see areas of
Alaska. Like so many of the truly wild
places, it can only be seen by airplane or by boat. Luckily for us, we were on a big boat,
otherwise referred to as a ship.
Visiting the bay by ship is a bit like going back in time to the ice
age. There are glaciers everywhere. It is 3.3 million acres of wilderness that is
also part of 25 million acres of a world heritage site. My limited ability with words prevents me
from really being able to describe it. I
can only say that you have to see it to believe it!
We entered the bay just at dawn and approached the
ranger station to pick up our ranger team by boat. They provided a guided tour of the bay from
the bridge and several rangers strolled the promenade deck to answer questions
during the day. Once again, we had a
great day to view the bay, the glaciers, wildlife and the panoramic views.
One of the things that is hard to grasp is the scale
of what you are looking at. While it
does look beautiful and impressive, unless you have something to compare what
you are looking at, it is difficult to actually get the scale. In the picture below, you may not see it at
first, but if you will look at the enlarged first picture below, you will see a
sister ship to the one we are on close up to a glacier. That gives you a better perspective of scale.
Some of the glaciers have picked up so much of the
underlying earth that they are nearly black in color.
We did see several glaciers calving, but not any
really huge splits. However, some of
them were shedding many tons of ice into the water. I did get some great HD video, but the files
are too large for blogger. So I have
included a couple of camera shots.
While enjoying this amazing place, you could still relax in comfort.
This part of Alaska is not to be missed.
14 comments:
I sure hope we can get there before they're all gone. Absolutely incredible.
I sure hope we can get there before they're all gone. Absolutely incredible.
I think you might need to relax for a while after taking in all that spectacular glacier scenery.
Wow. Amazing pictures of a beautiful place.
With all the talk of the melting glaciers, I happened to stumble on a tv show the other day showing these guys breaking big chunks off glaciers to sell to bottling water companies for "Glacier water." Maybe that's where the glaciers are going?
Glacier Bay is amazing isn't it? We were on the Dawn Princess for our Alaska cruise and found a nice front facing public balcony that is not heavily publicized for our entry into the bay and the cruise to Margerie Glacier. The scale of the landscape is so immense that it wraps all around you for an awesome experience.
You are right. The ship was so tiny compared to the glaciers.
You two have done a magnificent job with the photos and descriptions. I know we will never get up there so this has been a real treat following along with you two. Thanks.
Amazing photos, again! Those glaciers are just huge when you see those tiny looking boats up close to the edge.
What beautiful pictures! The air and water are so clear. It really makes me want to take an Alaskan cruise!
Candy
Fantastic photos!
Those are just amazing photos. I am so impressed with your trip. Did I see a warm indoor pool amid the cool blue glacier pictures??
Okay, okay, you've convinced us. We're calling the travel agent now! :c)
Wow, is all I can say. It is beautiful, and it looks like you are havng fantastic weather too. Love your header picture it is amazing.
Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com
Wonderful pictures. Since I've never been to Alaska, I've really enjoyed reading your blog postings.
Again breath taking photos.
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