Summer Solstice in Glacier Bay

So where did you spend the longest day of the year? We were cruising Glacier Bay and I must say that this will be hard to top in the upcoming years.

We awoke to very calm seas and spectacular scenery. There wee whales, sea lions and otters frolicking in the water. Two National Park Service rangers arrived by skiff from their home base in Bartlett Cove by the town of Gustavus. Comprised of 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, forests and waterways Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve are a highlight of the Inside Passage and part of a 25 million acre World Heritage Site – one of the world’s largest protected natural areas, as designated by UNESCO.

We attended an excellent presentation by one of the ranger, Mary Lou. I think the most amazing fact we took away is that the Margerie Glacier is advancing at a rate of 7 feet per day. Someone calculated that in the span of one hour it advanced 3 inches…someone please check the math for us.

Ok, time for your history/geography lesson so pull out your map. Glacier Bay is the product of the Little Ice Age and reached its maximum extent by 1750. Some glaciers are retreating while others are advancing. The Little Ice Age came and went quickly by geological measures. By 1750 the glacier reached its maximum jutting out into Icy Straight. But when Capt. George Vancouver sailed here 45 years later, the glacier had melted back five miles into Glacier Bay – which it had gouged out.

When conservationist John Muir traveled here in 1879 the glacier had retreated 40 more miles up the bay since Vancouver’s visit. Muir captured the popular imagination about Alaska, attracting tourists to the bay,. Today you must travel 65 miles up the bay to view the tidewater glaciers. Polar regions respond to changes in climate at faster rates than temperate and equatorial regions.

We spent the day cruising the bay our ultimate destination being the Tarr Inlet and the Grand Pacific and Margerie Glaciers. The did see Margerie calve four times although only one of the was a dramatic spectacular sight send a great plume of water into the air. After spending a few hours in this area it was time for us to begin the return journey down to Icy Strait.

We passed Johns Hopkins Inlet and the Johns Hopkins Glacier. We were prohibited from entering the Hopkins Inlet because this is a restricted area where the seals go to birth their pups as it is a safe haven for them as the predatory whales will not come up this far. The Lamplugh Glacier was very colorful. About 10P we experienced our first “sunset” although it was really a colorful play of light on the clouds lingering over the mountains of Excursion Ridge and Pleasant Island.

We sailed Icy Strait heading east towards Point Couverden on the tip of the Chilkat Mountain Range Penninsula. Overnight we will cruise up the Lynn Canal, through the Chilkoot Inlet and arrive in the morning in Skagway located at the end of the Taiya Inlet. This will be out first port of call.

I took about 200 pictures and have to edit them for you tomorrow. I will get them posted ASAP.