The Glaciers of Glacier Bay

The highlight of our stay at Glacier Bay Lodge was a day long boat trip to see the tidal glaciers that make the park famous. They are actually 70 miles from where we are staying. We spent the day of the 78 foot catamaran Fairweather Express II with Captain Ken at the helm and Ranger Sierra providing a running commentary on the wildlife and geology of the bay.

The wildlife was amazing. We started with a island of Stellar Sea Lions right next to a bird rookery with several different types of birds including Tufted Puffins.

Next we saw a brown bear with a young cub. We saw a total of four brown bears during the day. Brown bears are also known as grizzly bear away from the coast.

At lunch time we made it to the glaciers. The most amazing glacier was the Margerie Glacier which is still advancing about 8 feet a day. The front wall of this glacier is more than 250 feet tall! This pushes the forward edge into the ocean and causes ice to break off or “calf” and an iceberg is born.

Unfortunately, we did not see any major calfing while we were stopped. However, the day was bright and sunny and many staff commented that they do not often see the mountains behind the glaciers because of clouds and that we had a perfect day!

Right next to Margerie was the Grand Pacific Glacier which is stable. The ice looks black with the rock and dirt that has accumulated on the top, put this is the widest and longest glacier in the park.

We also had a stop at the John Hopkins Glacier on our return home.

.