Advertisement
Published: June 13th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Over the Glacier
To begin to get an idea of size, in the lower part of the photo, just left of centre, is a group of people and a helicopter - can you spot it? Last month when I was in Hawaii, I made the decision to splurge on a helicopter tour over the island of Kauai. I debated over it quite a bit, but once I went, was so glad that I did. It was a once in a lifetime experience. After that, now that I’m in Alaska and there are helicopter tours here available to me, I didn’t have much of a debate that I’m willing to spend the money on another helicopter ride here!
Today we’re in Skagway and from what the shore ex department had told me, this would be the port that as a crew member I’d be most likely to get space on a helicopter ride. The company offers two different helicopter tours - one where you go dog sledding and one where you go for a hike on a glacier. With the tour company I guide for back home, I used to go dog sledding every week during the winter season. So while most of my crew friends are jumping at the chance to go dog sledding, I didn’t feel the need to do that. But the idea of walking around on a glacier had me fascinated.
So bright and early this morning, I got off the ship and walked over to the helicopter company’s headquarters. They’re right by the cruise ship dock, but it still took me a bit of wandering around to find the precise place I needed to go. It was a relatively quiet day in Skagway - only two ships - and I lucked out, that they did have standby space for me to get on one of their tours.
I had to wait a little bit in their lodge for the tour to start. Because I knew I’d be on standby, I was prepared to wait, so I just curled up with my book and some hot chocolate. Then the rest of my group arrived (there were 5 of us total), we were safety briefed and suited up. I was already dressed warmly; in addition to that we were given safety vests and special boots (they covered our shows) that would allow us to walk on the glacial ice. All dressed up, we went outside to the helicopter pad to watch it come in for a landing to pick us up.
We piled into the helicopter and we were off!
The day was cloudy but our pilot said that it was a great day for flying. There was little wind which made flying smooth. While it was cloudy, the clouds were high and visibility below was great. As we flew out of Skagway and along the coast, we could look down the coastline and nearly see Juneau! As we flew along the coastline, we could see waterfalls along the mountains. The pilot pointed out a line below us where the water changed colour. He explained that as the glaciers in the area move they grind up rock making it into a flour and where this silt mixes in the water it creates the colour line we could see.
We turned inland between the mountains. Below we could see a huge beaver dam and spots on the mountains where avalanches had fallen. Then, soon after that, the Meade glacier appeared ahead of us. We first flew over the toe hills, a part that looks like dirty hills at the very bottom of the glacier. Then ahead of us, the pilot pointed out a small tent, a group of people and another helicopter. Out there, everything is deceptively large. Everything seems
big, but because everything is HUGE you can’t really interpret just how big everything is. Until you compare the massive river of ice to the teeny tiny little helicopter on it.
We landed on the glacier and met our trek guides. We moved to the side with them while the helicopters took off leaving us alone out on the glacier. It was awesome. Thinking back to my helicopter experience in Hawaii, then I felt like I was in the most beautiful place on the planet. Standing on the glacier surrounded by ice and mountains, I felt like I was on another planet. My surroundings were just so unlike anything else I’d ever experienced.
We walked along the ice and the guides pointed out pools with algae and cracks glowing bright blue along the way. They talked about glacial ice and glaciers and how the land is formed and shaped. Much of what they said was what I’d learned at the interpretation centre at the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau last week, but they built on my knowledge from there. More that learning new things, it was that I could put things into context and have a better understanding when
I was standing there in the middle of it. I could look around and see how the mountains had been carved and rounded off at their peaks. The craziest thing was still to wrap my head around just how large everything around me was. For example, the spot where we were standing, the ice below us was approximately four to five HUNDRED feet deep! I’m used to thinking of water being that deep, but not ice!
We didn’t have a lot of time out on the glacier, about 40 minutes. I don’t feel like I have a lot to say about what I did during that time. Because really, it was just being there that was the event! I tried to make sure I kept looking around me, soaking up the view, taking deep breaths of the cold clear air, remembering and savouring where I was.
The helicopter ride back was also beautiful. I got lots of pictures and enjoyed the views along the way.
But really, the ultimate experience of my day was when I was out on the glacier. Again, it was like being in another world . . . Yet it wasn’t. It’s so
incredible, this world we live in.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.344s; Tpl: 0.022s; cc: 31; qc: 147; dbt: 0.1906s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb