Wilderness: Remote, Dynamic and Intact
And so we arrive in Glacier Bay, a land reborn, a world returning to life, a living lesson in resilience. If ever we needed a place to intrigue and inspire us, to help us see all that's possible in nature and in ourselves, this is it. Glacier Bay is a homeland, a natural lab, a wilderness, a national park, a United Nations biosphere reserve, and a world heritage site. Not a bad resume for a young land, a new sea. Just 250 years ago, Glacier Bay was all glacier and no bay. A massive river of ice, roughly 100 miles long and thousands of feet deep, occupied the entire bay. Today, that glacier is gone, having retreated north. Fewer than a dozen smaller tidewater glaciers remain. Impressive in themselves, sequestered at the heads of their inlets in the upper bay, they flow from tall coastal mountains to the sea, and calve great shards of ice that bejewel cold waters with diamond-like bergs. They are witnesses to change, these rivers of ice. They invite us to slow down and breathe deeply of the cool ice age air, and to imagine, if only for a day, the way things used to be.
And what a beautiful day we had here, the clouds parted and the sun shone over these majestic mountains and incredible glaciers, some of these mountain peaks pushing over 15,000 feet. On the way up to our primary glacier, the Margerie glacier at the very end of the bay, we enjoyed sightings of whales, brown bears, sea lions and sea otters along with many types of seabirds, including one lone eagle. Our hour stop at the glacier was magnificent as we watched her in all her glory as she calved before us, thunderous and awe inspiring. Got to say, just love it up here, this scenery is like ours in and around Vancouver but on steroids. Great job once again HAL.
Tonight is the next Gala (Formal) night, a few pics of our grand day in Glacier Bay and tonight's events. Hope you enjoy...
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