Glacier Bay National Park

The purpose of an Alaskan vacation is obviously to see two things: 1.) the amazing landscapes by plane, train, boat, and bus (or a motorcycle!), and 2.) the crazy wildlife that roams this last frontier state.  So far we've both enjoyed this trip....and we've still got 16 more days to go!

Today we would be cruising through Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.  Glacier Bay became part of a bi-national UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, was inscribed as a Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and in 1994 undertook an obligation to work with Hoonah and Tlingit Native American organizations in the management of the protected area.  No roads lead to the park and it is most easily reached by air travel.  Despite the lack of roads....there are over 400,000 visitors each year most of whom arrive via cruise ship. The number of ships that may arrive each day is limited by regulation

 (see the glacier at the mouth of the hills?)

Our entire day today would be spent on the ship viewing one glacier after another as we cruised through this channel towards our final port (Seward).  Our cruise ship opened up the bow to allow us to view this scenic area from the front of the ship.  It was great for about 15 minutes....until I froze my nuts off!

Jenesa and I wound up retreating to the back deck of the ship and having some hot chocolates to warm us up!  In a little less than a few hours though....the temperature warmed up to the point we were shedding clothing down to shorts and t-shirts.  Now, I was sweating my nuts off!

The most impressive part of the day was our one hour stop at the Marjerie Glacier.  The cruise ship sat directly in front of the glacier and people crowded around to take pictures and witness glacial calving.  Let me explain this in simple terms - cows have calves, glaciers calve icebergs - which are chunks of ice that break off the glaciers and fall into the water.  This was my best attempt at capturing the calving process.  SPLASH!