Le Conte Glacier--What a Sight!

Yesterday was an amazing day. Eric, Joan, Tyler, and I left for Le Conte Glacier around 10 a.m. in Safari. The sky was mostly clear and the temperature was perfect--around 60 degrees. It was a great day to be out on the water--very calm and smooth. After a few hours of travel, we could see small specks of white appearing on the horizon. Those little “specks” were actually icebergs the size of small houses. The blue color of these icebergs is a color like you’ve never seen before. I don’t even think Crayola has been able to reproduce the color “ice blue.” Each iceberg has its own distinct shape. Remember when you were a kid and you’d find shapes in the clouds? Well, it was fun to try to find shapes in the icebergs. One looked like a sponge, another like a ship, and another like a layer cake. Knowing how little I felt next to these massive chunks of ice, it’s incredible to think that most of the iceberg is submerged under water and not even visible.

The temperature started to drop as we traveled into the natural refrigerator (or maybe “ice box,” as they used to call them, would be a more appropriate term!). The deep, aquamarine water was a sheet of glass, reflecting the steep mountain cliffs plunging into the deep water. Melting snow from the top of the mountains created a huge waterfall that roared to the icy water below. As we traveled around each point, I kept wondering, Will we see the glacier around this corner? Will we even be able to get close enough to see it? The water was quite choked with ice, so travel was difficult. We hit several small ice chunks, but Eric was a great tour guide and maneuvered Safari very well through the ice. Finally, we rounded a point and we could see Le Conte Glacier! Even though we were still two miles away, the huge wall of ice was massive! Seeing it lying there between the mountains was breathtaking. The depth and the beauty that surrounded me are very difficult to describe, and even the pictures don’t do it justice. It’s one of those instances when you had to be there to really "feel" the experience.

As the sun was reflecting off the ice and mountains, I was thinking this was pretty great. Then I began to look at all the floating ice and I noticed that some had brown spots. Studying them more closely, I saw that these “spots” were actually seals. I pointed them out and we inched our way toward them. Making no sudden movements, we were able to get fairly close to them. Needless to say, Mylo (my camera) got a workout. The seals were very curious about us also, and they didn’t seem to mind too much that we were there. They would watch us and then recline on the ice, then check us out to make sure we weren’t too close. Eventually, they did go in the water. But there were many more to be found.

The next group we approached must have been siblings, because as we got closer, they started barking at each other. It’s probably something people don’t get to experience very often, so I was very excited to hear it. As I looked at all the seals we saw, it’s amazing that each one seems to be unique in coloring and markings. As we started our departure after taking a few (hundred) more pictures of the glacier, we approached an iceberg that had one lonely seal. It was a baby, very small and cute. We were able to get VERY close to it, because its mother wasn’t there to “tell” him to jump into the water. The poor little thing was probably half scared to death seeing us coming toward him. He was a great model though, and we got so close (probably within 5-10 feet) that my zoom lens wouldn’t focus.

We passed the icebergs again on the way out, and of course I took more pictures, because they looked different from the other side. (That’s my lame excuse anyway.) After eating supper, we meandered through huge icebergs as the sun began to descend on the horizon. The fading light cast an eerie shadow on the icebergs, and it was gorgeous. One of the icebergs broke apart, crashing into the water and creating a smashing sound. Very impressive.

We then had a lot of time to “waste.” It was slow going waiting for high tide so we could make it over the flats (“sand bars” to us MN people). A few times we hit bottom and were “stuck” in the sand. But the tide was continually rising, so we eventually made it across around 11:30 p.m. and headed back to Wrangell. It was fairly dark, yet you could still see some light on the horizon, making a silhouette of the islands.

We arrived back at Shoemaker Harbor at 3:00 a.m. and gratefully headed to Eric and Joan’s for some sleep. I think my brain was over-stimulated though, because I had a hard time getting to sleep. I kept seeing glaciers, seals, and icebergs in mind. And who can guess how busy Mylo was today? Maybe I’ll let you guess how many pictures I took today. We’ll see who’s the closest. Maybe there’ll be a prize for the winner! A picture of Le Conte Glacier perhaps? I’ll give you a little clue. It’s more than I’ve taken of my nieces and nephews at any one time, but less than 50 rolls of film. Stay tuned for the results. In the meantime, I have to go ice my trigger finger! If only I had a chunk of an iceberg…