Monday, July 19th
Reid Inlet
The Behavior of birds
Starting the morning by cooking some oatmeal we observe birds across the inlet all standing on a rock. I wonder why and we decide so predators can not get them. The comment could be heard “Being paranoid I can understand their behavior.”
Later out on the dinghy we go close to the rock to get a closer look, We get too close and we are sorry that we have disturbed their peaceful roosting. All but one flies off. As all his friends leave him, the lone bird looks as if he is saying “Hey guys, wait for me”.
Exploring Reid Inlet by dinghy
We take the dinghy off the boat, preparing to explore this wonderful little cove with Reid Glacier at the end, the only glacier you can walk right up to as it no longer reaches tidal water. I am excited as Andrea instructs me how to drive the dinghy and we take off across the water with me behind the wheel. My new friends are so trusting! Bringing the dinghy to shore we climb out, set the anchor carefully so with the receding tide we will return to find the boat still floating. The tidal fluctuations in Glacier Bay can be as much as 25 feet. This means that your dinghy could be floating anchored to the shore and when you return from a hike you could return to find the dinghy sitting on the mud flats. You will hope you have packed a large snack as you wait for the tides to change again. You might even have enough time to take a pleasant nap.
We take off towards the glacier hiking over the rocks made smooth by the years of water acting on them. Observing the different colors of the granite rocks at our feet, we walk on glacier silt dry and wet. We walk carefully through streams, our knee high rubber boots protecting our feet from the frigid waters. Finally we are standing on the glacier. It is rock hard and slippery making climbing up it challenging. Standing on the glacier Andrea exclaims “This is what I came to Alaska for!”
How a glacier forms
I never knew how a glacier forms. Well, maybe I learned it in Science class some year but have no recollection of the study. After seeing them on this trip I was interested to learn that a glacier starts high in the mountains where the snow falls and does not melt. Year after year the snowflakes pile up and soon the weight of this vast accumulation presses down on itself and the snow compresses into ice. The weight of the ice is too much to hold against gravity and begins to flow downhill. It’s a glacier now that it is moving.
The glacier flows down the mountain and as it moves it picks up rocks into its lower layers. These rocks grind away at the bedrock. The glacial ice will carve deep valleys in the mountainside.
The type of glacier visitors are interested in seeing in Glacier Bay are the type that ends in the sea: the tidewater glacier. Since the seawater is warm and highly erosive compared to the glacial ice the waves and tides work away at the unstable glacier face which causes the huge chunks to break off and fall into the ocean. This is the frequently seen footage presented by cruise ship advertising. John Muir described the glacier so eloquently when he said “The Master Builder chose for a tool, not the thunder and lightning to rend and split asunder, not the stormy torrent nor the eroding rain, but the tender snowflake, noiselessly falling through unnumbered generations.”
Reid Inlet
The Behavior of birds
Starting the morning by cooking some oatmeal we observe birds across the inlet all standing on a rock. I wonder why and we decide so predators can not get them. The comment could be heard “Being paranoid I can understand their behavior.”
Later out on the dinghy we go close to the rock to get a closer look, We get too close and we are sorry that we have disturbed their peaceful roosting. All but one flies off. As all his friends leave him, the lone bird looks as if he is saying “Hey guys, wait for me”.
Exploring Reid Inlet by dinghy
We take the dinghy off the boat, preparing to explore this wonderful little cove with Reid Glacier at the end, the only glacier you can walk right up to as it no longer reaches tidal water. I am excited as Andrea instructs me how to drive the dinghy and we take off across the water with me behind the wheel. My new friends are so trusting! Bringing the dinghy to shore we climb out, set the anchor carefully so with the receding tide we will return to find the boat still floating. The tidal fluctuations in Glacier Bay can be as much as 25 feet. This means that your dinghy could be floating anchored to the shore and when you return from a hike you could return to find the dinghy sitting on the mud flats. You will hope you have packed a large snack as you wait for the tides to change again. You might even have enough time to take a pleasant nap.
We take off towards the glacier hiking over the rocks made smooth by the years of water acting on them. Observing the different colors of the granite rocks at our feet, we walk on glacier silt dry and wet. We walk carefully through streams, our knee high rubber boots protecting our feet from the frigid waters. Finally we are standing on the glacier. It is rock hard and slippery making climbing up it challenging. Standing on the glacier Andrea exclaims “This is what I came to Alaska for!”
How a glacier forms
I never knew how a glacier forms. Well, maybe I learned it in Science class some year but have no recollection of the study. After seeing them on this trip I was interested to learn that a glacier starts high in the mountains where the snow falls and does not melt. Year after year the snowflakes pile up and soon the weight of this vast accumulation presses down on itself and the snow compresses into ice. The weight of the ice is too much to hold against gravity and begins to flow downhill. It’s a glacier now that it is moving.
The glacier flows down the mountain and as it moves it picks up rocks into its lower layers. These rocks grind away at the bedrock. The glacial ice will carve deep valleys in the mountainside.
The type of glacier visitors are interested in seeing in Glacier Bay are the type that ends in the sea: the tidewater glacier. Since the seawater is warm and highly erosive compared to the glacial ice the waves and tides work away at the unstable glacier face which causes the huge chunks to break off and fall into the ocean. This is the frequently seen footage presented by cruise ship advertising. John Muir described the glacier so eloquently when he said “The Master Builder chose for a tool, not the thunder and lightning to rend and split asunder, not the stormy torrent nor the eroding rain, but the tender snowflake, noiselessly falling through unnumbered generations.”
I apologize about the picture placement! I hope it has not been too much trouble to turn your screens around to view them. I especially apologize to those of you using large desk top screens!
One of these blogs I will figure out the picture thing!!
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