Alaska | asta.org | 80 HUMBLED BY THEPOWER AND SCALEOF wild Alaska wild Exploring a mesmerizing icy world in southeast is an world Alaska amesmerizingExploring icy adventure alifetime. of By Yvonne Gordon
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IMAGES: GETTY surrounded by mountains. oneside are On Auke Bay and find ourselves suddenly in theairsignal where thewhales are. ofthebignoise puffs andthe clouds of vapor the next andreach itbefore it disappears. The for about 15minutes at atime. up to 21hours aday —andstay underwater for come here —feeding onherring to feed is telling usabout whales. Humpback whales and Luke Forrester, our guide andanaturalist, off thecoast oftheAlaskan capital, Juneau, Luke, our guide. underside, themarkings are unique,” says the surface. depths andleaving just on afewripples Then itdisappears, plunging downinto the out ofthewatertail rises andhigh intheair. later, but seconds underwater itsmagnificent large cloud ofvapor. Thewhale disappears air through itsblowhole, a which forms A We leave Juneau andmotor out through asonedives,As soon therace isonto spot We’re inaboat inAlaska’s Inside Passage, “The tailis afluke,called andonthe pfwoossh water near usandsuddenly there’s a black shape glidesthrough the . It’s alarge whale expelling more frequent until we're through crunching along thefjord andicebergs go we become ontheshore.bear glaciers andwaterfalls, even spotting ablack forests, with lined at hanging marvel andwe if guiding theway. The sides ofthefjord are first iceberg,sea eagle a perched on top as ofupto eight.— pods guillemots. We pass more humpback whales birdsand sea such asgulls, Arctic terns and mountain goats andbears, plusbald eagles humpback whales lions, andsea andonland, the water, there are harbor seals, porpoises, us about regularly thewildlife here seen —in black inthe morning light. clouds stretches across thehills, appearing dock, thewater iscalm andabig bank oflow Fjord. Arm bound forTracy leave Aswe the another day trip, anearly-morning departure aboutcuriosity theglaciers leads meto book Juneau Icefield. Eagle Glaciers, ofthe1,500sq-mile part patches oftheHerbert Glacier the silvery The forest turns to rock facethefurther We Fjord, Arm cometo Tracy our andsee pass AdmiraltyAs we Island, our guide tells Back onshore, trip, after athrilling streams below. ▶ forest andover rushing, noisy with bridges We walk along anarrow trail through the trees to grow were sitka alder, thenspruce. sprouted astheglacier receded. Thefirst how theforest isjust 125years old,having Forest. ofour guides, One Eric, explains heading upthrough theTongass National downatstarting Mendenhall Lake and guided hike along theWest Glacier Trail, Juneau isMendenhall; offon Iset a little detail,” says our captain, Steve. them.seeing It’s oftheday, anicepart anice towards look. “We themforacloser like Passage, spotmore we whales andmotor come from. all theicebergs saw we from theboat have that float downthefjord. Thisexplains where constantly moving, regularly calving icebergs there’s athundering rumble. Glaciers are the water alarge below splash, with and Sawyer Glacier. huge bright white-and-blue wall —thesouth the ice. We a comefaceto facewith soon One ofthemost popular glaciers inOne returnAs we to land along theStephens Suddenly, oficecrashes apiece to Humpback whale, InsidePassage; Sawyer Glacier ASTA network | Fall 2017 | 81 |Fall network
Alaska
IMAGES: GETTY meltwater, MendenhallGlacier in apond, Tongass NationalForest; From top: Coast Mountainsreflected where our dozen-strong group isput into beforebase to Mendenhall driving Lake, canoe to walk onMendenhall Glacier. fascinating encounter by ofall—atrip southeast Alaska turns out themost to be from above onahike, my final adventure in likelook tiny dots. they group walking ofpeople ontheglacier; our perch, around 700ftup, a can we see the mountains andMendenhall Lake. From oficearethe expanse incredible, taking in our hard work isrewarded. Theviews over can spray ofbear —just incase. alargethe trail, andInoticeEricis carrying morethis brings animals. We on adeer meet glacier recedes, more vegetation grows and weight downonit. ofaglacier bearing Asthe half ofaninch ayear, theimmense without andahere aquarter upbetween isrising different phases ofgrowth, andhow the land whole thing. us from thedistraction ofdocumenting the support. The guides take many photos, freeing trail heads upsteephills, handrails with for are covered green with moss. At times, the shadedsubdued, by thetrees. rocks Some We're kitted out at thetour company’s glaciersAfter from seeing aboat, andthen After three hours ofmostly uphillwalking, Eric explains allabout theforest, the The groundsoft andthelight is is
scale of wild Alaska.scale ofwild reduced to amere speck by thepower and tiny oneofthose dotsonaglacier —become and hiking uptheside ofone, I've finally, off inthedistance,seeing onefrom boat, a and realize that aglacier far after seeing up to themountain Ihiked theday before adrenaline rush. setting out, adding to the guides have made usaware ofbefore can collapse at any time, adanger our are constantly onthemove andicecaves how dangerous here itisto be —glaciers us how fast theglacier ismelting and watersound ofrushing outside reminds bubbles ofblueandwhite ice.with The Inside, thewalls are andglossy, smooth reachwe theicecave undertheglacier. vertical shafts, called moulins. snow theglacial ice. within We see also and patches ofblue, caused by compressed the ice;guides pointing out crevasses beach next to theglacier. hour ofpaddling, pull we upat asmall silty monstrous iceberg along theway. After an across thelake, passing Nugget Falls anda paddle, alarge wooden with canoe we large canoes.two With each ofusarmed As we walkAs we back to thecanoe, Ilook The highlight ofthe day comesas We put onour crampons offacross andset
alaskaferry.com the Alaska MarineHighway. also specializes inferry tripson based ontwo sharing. Viking Travel cruise, from $1,200per person, hike andhalf-day whale-watching trip, guidedMendenhallGlacier Juneau, afull-day Tracy Arm boat accommodation indowntown port transfers, four nights’ hotel in Juneau, includingairportor Viking Travel Sample Marine Highway. by ship,or by ferry along the Alaska travel there by airplane,floatplane, Juneau by road, sopeople can in gettingthere: You can’t reach Promote theadventure involved few hours. remote settings,even if it'sjustfor a the city be inunspoilt nature and of opportunities to getaway from Gastineau Channel,sothere are lots Juneau, MountRoberts andthe small city, setbetween Mount Juneau isthestate capital, it’s a the wilderness: Sell natural habitats. porpoises and whales, allintheir from deer andbearsto sealions, opportunities to view everything the wildlife:are ThereSell and gold-panning. landings, glacier dog-sled rides tours, helicopter tours with glacier adventures includeflightseeing onto ahikingtrail or glacier. Other Passage, or getoutinto akayak or a leisurely boattripontheInside tastes, whether clients want to take There’s somethingfor alllevels and Talk uptherange of adventures: Selling tips ASTA network | Fall 2017 | 83 |Fall network has five nights Although Alaska