Glaciers by sea, glaciers by land.
Greetings from Alaska fellow Earthlings. The picture to the left is from the Yukon Bar in Seward. It is a popular hangout, with dollarbills covering the ceiling and walls, and live music almost nightly. On the night we spent too much money here on beer, we listened to a local band, and watched a local at the bar, who had perfectly teased white hair under his cowboy hat, and sat with a purple velvet pillow on the bar in front of him, where his miniature canine was proudly displayed. We ended up jogging home from a house party in a down pour at 4 am and woke up with the worst overhung experienced thus far.
We spent the following days in Seward exploring Kenai Fjords National Park which houses the country's largest icefield (a group of glaciers [32 in this one] that form a large sea of ice).
The first day we did so by boat. We had been putting off the boatride because the weather had been bad (mountains + clouds = no views), and the seas had also been very rough, but we were running out of time and had to take our chances. The day we decided to go out there were 6-10 foot swells and it was cloudy and raining as we headed out. They warned us that sometimes the boats do not even make it to the fjords and will turn around if too many people are sick. David was one of these people, throwing up off of the back of the boat only minutes after we hit the open ocean.
Green face
Here is the boat, man was it cold!
The weather cleared up as the day went along, just in time for us to get some nice views of Northwest Glacier caving.
The water was nice and calm when we got into the fjord of this glacier.
sidenote:
fjord is a natural deep waterway in this case (and often) carved out by a glacier, as opposed to a canal, which is man-made (think Panama [hi Adam])
Ice was everywhere in the fjord and we crashed through chunks of all sizes.
The glacier
Caving!
Checking out the views.
The next day was clear skies, with nothing but sunshine. We wanted to see the icefield from the top, and so we did the popular Harding Ice Field hike. This hike climbs approximately 3500 feet over 3.5 miles as it follows Exit Glacier up to the ice field. This hike was incredible and afforded the views below. We even had the chance to observe a couple of black bear cubs feeding!
Gravel in the valley left behind Exit Glacier as it recedes.
Exit Glacier
Now, now. Don't fall off the side of the cliff.
Exit Glacier as it comes out of the ice field.
Above the treeline where there is little vegitation.
Nearing the top and beginning to see the ice field.
Crossing the snow, one foot at a time.
The view in the other direction.
The icefield and the buried mountain range. (This pic only shows a portion of the view, it doesn't fit in the camera!)
A similar view, seen through Julia's sunglasses.
Again looking back across the valley.
One of the cubs we saw on the way down.
We are now in Anchorage, biking around town and the sun is out like we are of this internet cafe!
Greetings from Alaska fellow Earthlings. The picture to the left is from the Yukon Bar in Seward. It is a popular hangout, with dollarbills covering the ceiling and walls, and live music almost nightly. On the night we spent too much money here on beer, we listened to a local band, and watched a local at the bar, who had perfectly teased white hair under his cowboy hat, and sat with a purple velvet pillow on the bar in front of him, where his miniature canine was proudly displayed. We ended up jogging home from a house party in a down pour at 4 am and woke up with the worst overhung experienced thus far.
We spent the following days in Seward exploring Kenai Fjords National Park which houses the country's largest icefield (a group of glaciers [32 in this one] that form a large sea of ice).
The first day we did so by boat. We had been putting off the boatride because the weather had been bad (mountains + clouds = no views), and the seas had also been very rough, but we were running out of time and had to take our chances. The day we decided to go out there were 6-10 foot swells and it was cloudy and raining as we headed out. They warned us that sometimes the boats do not even make it to the fjords and will turn around if too many people are sick. David was one of these people, throwing up off of the back of the boat only minutes after we hit the open ocean.
Green face
Here is the boat, man was it cold!
The weather cleared up as the day went along, just in time for us to get some nice views of Northwest Glacier caving.
The water was nice and calm when we got into the fjord of this glacier.
sidenote:
fjord is a natural deep waterway in this case (and often) carved out by a glacier, as opposed to a canal, which is man-made (think Panama [hi Adam])
Ice was everywhere in the fjord and we crashed through chunks of all sizes.
The glacier
Caving!
Checking out the views.
The next day was clear skies, with nothing but sunshine. We wanted to see the icefield from the top, and so we did the popular Harding Ice Field hike. This hike climbs approximately 3500 feet over 3.5 miles as it follows Exit Glacier up to the ice field. This hike was incredible and afforded the views below. We even had the chance to observe a couple of black bear cubs feeding!
Gravel in the valley left behind Exit Glacier as it recedes.
Exit Glacier
Now, now. Don't fall off the side of the cliff.
Exit Glacier as it comes out of the ice field.
Above the treeline where there is little vegitation.
Nearing the top and beginning to see the ice field.
Crossing the snow, one foot at a time.
The view in the other direction.
The icefield and the buried mountain range. (This pic only shows a portion of the view, it doesn't fit in the camera!)
A similar view, seen through Julia's sunglasses.
Again looking back across the valley.
One of the cubs we saw on the way down.
We are now in Anchorage, biking around town and the sun is out like we are of this internet cafe!
posted by didgereedont | 3:47 PM
1 Comments:
Hey guys, it makes a man (and a woman I assume) feel good to know that someone is reading the blog, so I´m a´posting. It looks great and I wish I had time to read it all, but I only have a half an hour left at this cafe and that time is worth it´s weight in gold. Actually, you can´t weigh time, but you know what I mean. Best wishes. I love Alaska!
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