Our Journey : Glaciers

6/29/2024

June 8th, 2024 Part 2 of 3 - Lu-Lu Belle Tour of Prince William Sound - Glaciers

GLACIERS AND ICEBERGS

On our way to the Columbia Glacier - we are 14 miles away at this point.

There is a lot of information on the Glacier here:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/ColumbiaGlacier

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/149445/alaskan-ice-in-retreat-35-years-at-columbia-glacier#:~:text=But%20in%201980%2C%20the%20glacier,your%20eyes%20would%20see%20it.

This is the second largest tidewater glacier in North America and it flows directly into the sea.

Large areas of floating ice:

River otters taking a break:

Mountain Goats on the hillside:

The Colombia Glacier:

Since 1980, the glacier has retreated 15 miles:

Seals taking a break:

Other glaciers and branches of the Colombia Glacier:

We are the blue dot on the glacier:

We did not get up close and personal because of the floating ice (called the ice “mélange), so we boated to three other glaciers:

This one we did see some "calving" - it sounds like a shotgun when it breaks.

The resulting mini-tsunami after falling into the water:

One last look as we left the glaciers behind:

On our way back we saw more sea otters (I call them the rabbits of the water).:

And some sea life followed us for a while.

We did not see any big whales but that is okay. It was a WONDERFUL trip and I highly recommend.

I do have a Part 3 to this blogs - Sea Life up close!

8/27/2014

August 26, 2014 Going to the Sun Road on the Historic Red Bus

We were up early this morning and at the transit center by 7:45 – yes, we were early. Today’s tour consisted of 5 Red Buses (lots of people). There were 14 on our bus so it was pretty comfortable and not “squishy”.

By8:30 AM, we were loaded up and on our way.

I was going to give you lots of info on the Going to the Sun Road and on the Historic Red Buses but I am giving you some links instead because I have LOTS of pictures!

Here are the links and there is much other info out there on the web:

http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/gtsrtop10.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going-to-the-Sun_Road

http://glaciernationalpark.mobi/going-sun-road/

http://www.glaciernationalparklodges.com/activities-red-bus-tours

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Jammers

Our tour guide and driver was Susan and we were treated to so much history and stories and geology along the way – she was great.

So here we go…

Lake McDonald:

Our first stop was at Lake McDonald Lodge:

Isn’t it beautiful!

There was even a roaring fire in the fire place – which was great because the temps were only in the 40’s and the bus had no heat.

McDonald Creek – notice the color of the water- it means that this creek water is coming from the glaciers:

Here is the avalanche chutes – there are many in the park:

The west side tunnel – 192 feet long:

One of the longest falls in the park – the Going to the Sun Road is right in the middle:

More Falls:

The weeping wall:

The triple arches:

At the top – the line across those mountains is the road:

Logan’s Pass has a visitor center, museum, hiking trails and so much more. It is also a great place to see desert sheep – and we were not disappointed (although they were in the distance):