Glacier Bay National Park

Glacier Bay is a vast Y-shaped fjord on the Southeast coast of Alaska, sheltered from the ocean by the Fairweather range. Only two hundred years ago, when Captain George Vancouver sailed by its mouth, the bay was a solid sheet of nearly a mile of ice. One century later, the glaciers had shrunk back 65 miles, the fastest glacier retreat on record. To travel up the bay is to retrace the path of glacial retreat, from the lush mature spruce and hemlock rain forest near the visitor center at Bartlett cove, to the more thinly vegetated areas more recently de-glaciated, and eventually the glaciers which calve icebergs into the water with a sound described by the Tlingit Indians as "white thunder".

With no road access, the park is a marine wilderness which can be explored only by water travel. While most visitors experience the park through the deck of a cruise ship or tour boat, in May 2001 Arnd Pralle and I set up to kayak for nearly two weeks so that we could experience the vastness of the bay through a low waterline, observe closely wildlife thanks to a quiet vessel, cross narrow channels and iceberg-chocked passageways not accessible to boats, paddle and land as close to the glaciers as possible, and camp on isolated beaches. Despite the wet weather, huge tides and currents, ice-cold waters, we came to appreciate why the Bay is considered by many to be among the finest sea-kayaking grounds in the world. Using the park water shuttle system to get our double kayak closer to our destinations, we were able to explore the intensely wild world of the tranquil Muir Inlet, closed to cruise boats, and then the spectacular West arm, up to the John Hopkins inlet. See also the pictures of kayaking and camping in Glacier Bay.

In June 2006, I was graciously invited by Dayton Duncan to spend a few days in the Bay on Mike's Negro boat "The Kahsteen", with the crew of Florentine film. In that short period of time, I saw more glaciers and sunshine than during my whole previous exploration, and enjoyed gourmet meals by Megan. I didn't have to even pack a water bottle.