The vastness of Glacier Bay National Park
And 235 years ago, it was
completely covered in ice.
The Master
Builder chose for a tool,
not the
thunder and lightning to rend and split asunder,
not the stormy torrent nor the
eroding rain,
but the
tender snowflake, noiselessly falling through unnumbered generations. – John
Muir
When
asked, most people will say they prefer Tracy Arm to Glacier Bay . But you can’t compare the two. They’re completely
different experiences. Tracy Arm is a constant barrage of the senses: It’s
narrow and intimate with one incredible sight after the other. Glacier Bay is quieter,
more relaxed: Mile after mile of the same view, tempting and teasing you with
the thought of reaching it in hopes that, when you finally do, your time and
effort will be rewarded.
For
the first 20 miles or so out of Bartlett Cove, the landscape is fairly ordinary
and uninspiring. Hours pass under the keel before the scenery starts to take
shape and the landscape finally comes into focus. But once it does, it’s as if it’s
as if time stands still. And yet, it passes passes more quickly: The earth
grows younger, wilder. Marine life dots the waterway – sea otters, puffins,
harbor porpoise. And massive, rugged mountains appear ghostlike in the
distance.
Note: This blog was written on
Monday, 06 July 2015.
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