Skagway - 18 June 2016

Russ took a photography tour in the morning and I hit the local quilt shop again. We met up in town and spent the rest of our time in port walking around Skagway. The National Park Service has done a wonderful job restoring the buildings and providing interpretations in many of them. The rest of the buildings are stores, eateries and residences. Again, we were blessed with good weather and enjoyed our walk through town very much.

Speaking to the ranger who was at the Moore Homestead, we learned that the winds can kick up quite a bit, and when they do, they whistle down the streets and make it quite cold during the winter. The place pretty much closes up when the cruise ships leave and things get very quiet. The off season is extremely quiet with few visitors.

Many characters back in the day called the area home and the NPS did a good job telling their stories. I came away with, I think, some sense of what it was like in the Gold Rush Skagway.

Russ' photography excursion took them up the road to the Summit.  Russ got some good pointers from the instructor and got to try some photography equipment he doesn't currently own.

The instructor seemed to focus on close ups more than landscapes.  There is so much to see in the small stuff.
 

This is what the Summit looks like.  We didn't get this view when we took the train before. The glaciers have scraped the land bare.  There are kettle moraines - pools of trapped snowmelt. You can imagine what the prospectors felt when they reached this place - no more climbing!

The train looks like a toy one.

Called Caribou Moss, this is actually lichen and is full of carbohydrates which the caribou eat during the cold of winter.

Lots and lots of lichen.

Skagway's public park showcased trees. 

One of several beautiful murals in town (and one of the too many jewelry stores.)

A former business employing women of "negotiable affection."

The oldest home in Skagway, the Moore's were the first homesteaders and developed much of the area, adding a wharf, sawmill and introducing some civility to the town.

The son built a Victorian home and lived a life of wealth. Unfortunately, his inter-racial marriage and children (he married a Tlingit woman), caused many problems. He and his family eventually moved to Seattle where he and his wife eventually divorced. The NPS restored the home using photos from the 1904 era.

This is the oldest saloon in Skagway and again, the restoration comes from a photo.

Back on the ship, we are getting ready to say goodbye to Skagway.

We spent the evening cruising the Lynn Canal, keeping an eye out for wildlife.

Yakutat Bay and Glacier Bay - 16-17 June 2016

On our first two days of cruising southbound, we visited Yakutat Bay and the Hubbard Glacier and then Glacier Bay. We saw the Malaspina Glacier which is the world’s largest piedmont glacier. According to Google, piedmont glaciers occur when steep valley glaciers spill into relatively flat plains, where they spread out into bulb-like lobes. This is also Alaska’s largest glacier, covering 1,500 square miles and 1,000 feet thick. I think it is more impressive when seen from above – a lot of it was obscured by low hills which lined the bay.

We spent about an hour turning in circles in front of Hubbard Glacier. I have never heard such noises coming from a glacier! Loud groans, rumbles and snaps. These occur as the glacier moves over the rocks. The glacier is very active, advancing rapidly at times, leading to its nickname “The Galloping Glacier.” The ice, at the edge, is about 400 years old. The glacier often calves 10 story high icebergs, though we didn’t witness ones of that size. But, we did see quite a bit of calving.

The next day, we revisited Glacier Bay.  Never get tired of seeing the wilderness and enjoyed seeing Marjerie Glacier and the Grand Pacific Glacier again. I was a bit sad to be leaving the park. We will see more glaciers on our cruise south, but none so closely clustered and majestic.

The peak is Mount Logan - the highest peak in the Saint Elias Mountain Range at 19,551 feet.

 

Approaching the Hubbard Glacier. The mountain in the far distance is Mr. Hubbard at 14,951 feet.

 

Mount St Elias, the 2nd tallest mountain in both Canada and the U.S. It is on the border between the two countries.

 

 

Getting closer to the Hubbard Glacier. Only two cruise ships are allowed to visit each day, we are waiting for the other cruise ship to leave.

 

In the meantime, we enjoyed waterfalls and icebergs. Not much wildlife today. The whales don't like the water because of the silt from the glaciers.

 

 

You can see how large some of the icebergs are in contrast to the other cruise ship which is about the same size as ours.

 

 

Lots of blue ice in this glacier. The face is about 100 feet tall.

 

 

 

This calving resulted in splashes about 20 feet tall. 

 

 

 

 

One of the many U-shaped valleys formed by glaciers. This one has been empty of ice for some time - the trees don't come until many years after the ice has left.

 

Leaving Yakutat Bay for the Inside Passage.

 

In Glacier Bay National Park, there are many hanging glaciers in addition to the tidewater glaciers.

 

 

We spent about an hour in front of Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers.

 

 

 

 

Saw some good calving.

 

 

Margerie Glacier is about 21 miles long - you can see it winding up into the mountains.

 

It is one of the few glaciers advancing, growing by about 30 feet a year.

 

Another glimpse of John Hopkins Glacier, about five miles away.

 

The forces at play when glaciers advance and retreat, scraping the granite in ridges, are impressive and visible everywhere.

 

A fairly recent "landslide" on the Grand Pacific Glacier can be seen (it is the blue ice area in the center)