Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

Posted on February 4, 2018February 4, 2018 by Dusty Roads

Not Just a National Park

Glacier Bay is not just a National Park. It’s also a World Heritage Site. I don’t think you can really refer to Glacier Bay as a “port of call” as there is no port. You are cruising through this huge bay surrounded by icy mountains, glaciers and ice bergs. The ice bergs were a good sign. It meant that it was warm enough to cause the glacier’s to calve, that amazing falling ice that you see on the nature shows.

Warm is relative

I just said it was warm enough for the glaciers to calve. That’s not to say it was warm. It was still gray and overcast. The misty rainy weather that had been following us since Vancouver continued to be the norm. The rawness of the wind just cut through any coat you were wearing. I counted on the excitement of seeing the glaciers to keep me warm; that and running from one side of the ship to the other so I wouldn’t miss anything.

Ice Bergs and Glaciers

We maneuvered into Glacier Bay from Icy Strait, named for the abundance of ice floes. The ice floes and mini bergs bumped and rattled along the sides of the ship. We took our time so that there were no big collisions. At one point we watched an eagle sail by on one of the ice flows. The glaciers were the high point. The ice was made up of ribbons of colors. Blues and greens abounded.

Our Own Private Balcony

Eventually it was just too cold so we went back down to our room and settled on our balcony. That’s where I finally saw one of the glaciers calve. It was just a small piece of ice. It seemed to hover before it dropped into the ocean below. It turns out that we had a much better view from our balcony than from the top deck and we were out of the wind so it felt much warmer.

Stock Photo

Glacier Bay

Posted on June 15, 2013June 15, 2013 by Dusty Roads

This is the post I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for and I have so much for show and tell. Glacier Bay Cruising is a highlight of many, many cruise lines for their Alaska trips. I admit we were really looking forward to seeing it. Mendenhall Glacier had only served to whet our appetites for more.

Skagway to Glacier Bay 113 nautical miles 11.5 knots

The Island Princess entered Glacier Bay from Icy Strait named for the multitude of ice bergs the first explorers found floating here. The Island Princess was selling tickets to “The Sanctuary” an adult only area of the ship. The Sanctuary has padded lounge chairs, “Serenity Stewards” to wait on you, blankets and Mimosas all for only $60.00 per person. The Sanctuary is located across the aft end of the ship.

The misty, cold, gray weather that had followed us so far continued to be with us as we entered Glacier Bay. We decided not to spend the money for the Sanctuary because of the weather. Even with blankets it seemed like we’d be warmer if we could keep moving around the deck. We learned later that we missed out on seeing a close up view of a pod of Orcas that frolicked in the wake. Maybe next time I’ll make a different decision. It’s also important to mention here that although Alaska in the spring is known for its rainy weather, we were experiencing much colder, wetter weather than is the norm. Everyone says spring is running about 2 weeks late. Just our luck! 🙁 But that means that you shouldn’t be discouraged about a late May cruise…next year could be glorious sunshine.

The Island Princess arrived off Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay around 6 am where they picked up National Park Rangers. They set up a table neat the Horizon Court on Deck 14 plus they made announcements on the PA describing what we were seeing as we slowly cruised the bay.

I say slowly cruised the bay because Island Princess was moving through an ice field of bergs and small ice floes.

These bergs are a good indication that the glaciers are actively calving. Most of the bergs were pretty small or at least looked that way from 150 ft. up. I wonder if the people on the Titanic said the same thing…Oh they’re just little ice bergs. 🙂

The ice didn’t just drift out of the way. We could hear the bergs hitting the hull before they drifted off or slid down the sides.

Once again I can say it was cold especially when we leaning on the railing to see around other passengers or to avoid the annoying blue windows.

The closer we got to the Margerie Glacier the more the anticipation grew. People didn’t pay any attention to the many smaller glaciers that we passed as we traveled further into the bay.

Mendenhall Glacier

Posted on June 5, 2013June 5, 2013 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

Mendenhall Glacier is part of our tour package but for those who aren’t on a tour and wish to check it out there are regular shuttles that leave from Franklin Square by the Mount Roberts tramway station.

Meanwhile back on our tour bus, Phil handed out Nature Valley Bars and bottled water as a snack before our hike to the glacier. The Mendenhall Glacier is one of 37 glaciers that flow down from the 1500 square mile ice field. The glacier stretches approximately 13.5 miles from the ice field right into the valley finally ending in Mendenhall Lake.

The Glacier once covered the whole valley reaching it’s fullest extent around 300 years ago. Since then it has been in retreat. When Sandy and I planned out trip we joked we wanted to get to Alaska before the glaciers all melted. Scientists predict that Mendenhall Glacier won’t be visible from the Visitor Center in another 40 years if it continues it’s current rate of retreat. Maybe our joke wasn’t such a joke after all.

Meanwhile the retreating glacier often spawns large icebergs that drift across the lake.

The area is known for it’s wildlife sightings as well as the glacier but today at mid-day we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife.

At the edge of Mendenhall Lake is a beaver lodge but even the beaver were missing, maybe taking a siesta?

We started our hike to the lake on an easy trail through more of the rain forest. Phil stopped often to point out different mosses and lichen.

The trail opened out into more open, dryer land. Phil explained that the type of soil didn’t retain the water as well as the topsoil in the rainforest which resulted in the more sandy, open area. We could see a waterfall churning it’s way down the mountains. At this time of year, spring, waterfalls are everywhere as the snow melt makes it’s way into the valleys. By summer these torrents will be little more than a trickle if they exist at all.

While we waited for stragglers to catch up and enjoyed the sunshine, Phil told us the story of Romeo, the Glacier Wolf. I’ll share that with you in another post.

With everyone together again, we started downhill to the shore of the lake and the glacier views we’d been looking for.

Sure enough. the lake was filled with ice bergs.

The glacier glowed blue in the shade of the mountain side.

I am so glad the sun decided to come out today. They say the glacier is pretty in the rain but I find it hard to imagine it could be any prettier than it was today with the sun shining and the icebergs floating on the cold lake.