Trip 4, August
Part 2After overnighting in Seward after the cruise, the plan was to drive to our house in Soldotna, drop our stuff off, and head for bear watching in Lake Clark National Park.
Early morning in Seward:
Glaucous-winged gull:
Washed-up jellyfish:
One of the typical random weirdness that makes small Alaskan towns so much fun:
Onto the Seward Highway, heading north:
No fish guts!
We were only driving a short while when my phone rang - the bear guys called to let me know that our trip to Lake Clark has been canceled due to bad weather on the mountain passes. Phone service was terrible, and internet nonexistent, but I managed to get it rescheduled for tomorrow before we got cut off.
But what about today? We couldn't just swap tomorrow's activity in, as that would add about nine hours of driving and made absolutely no sense.
B"H for my familiarity with Alaska... Within 10 minutes I had a different epic plan for the day, and tomorrow's activity canceled at no cost - all without a speck of internet service.
And so instead of taking the turnoff to Soldotna, we continued north on the Seward Highway all the way to Girdwood. Checked in with Alpine Air helicopters, got a "you again?!" from the pilot, and off we went:
The rain was coming down in buckets, but like I said a million times before: that just doesn't get in the way of Alaska. I had enough experience to know that the excursion will be incredible.... and as a verification, Alpine Air has a webcam installed at our final destination for the day and they confirmed my hunch: the weather there was perfect.
Not much to see right after takeoff, what with the raindrops running
up the cockpit windows:
As we got deeper (and higher) into the mountains, the weather began clearing up and we spotted a black bear family on the cliffs:
Goldfish!
A faint rainbow in the distance beckoning us to our goal:
There it was, spread out beneath us: Colony Glacier.
The truth is that at this point I've seen - and been on - so many glaciers that I've lost count a long time ago. In Alaska alone I've stood on at least six and seen dozens more. And once you include the literally hundreds I've seen, climbed, snowmobiled on, or camped on in the U.S and Canadian Rockies, Iceland, Switzerland, Svalbard, Patagonia, and of course Antarctica, you'd think I'd be sick of ice.
But the fact is than no two glaciers are the same. They each have their unique personality, if you will - and they all look vastly different. What struck me about Colony Glacier were the immense ice pinnacles and fins that stretched of for mile after mile; that's a feature I had never seen, let alone flown over at an just a couple of feet. It literally took my breath away:
From higher up they look like frozen waves:
I still get goosebumps every time I watch this short clip of us coming in for the landing. Maybe you will too, or maybe you won't - I've been credibly accused of waxing a bit too poetic sometimes. But have a look at 1080p, full screen, and tell me if I'm being melodramatic or not:
You'll notice that we're circling; we were going to land on the ice, and the pilot needed to find a relatively flat area. You can't exactly land a helicopter on those fins.
Made it!
Absolutely stunning:
We spent about 15 minutes on the ice exploring and taking pictures before it was time to leave. As we were getting belted in, the pilot got a call on the radio that bad weather was moving in and we should leave ASAP. Talk about perfect timing.
Liftoff:
Those colors!
As you can see above, it was pouring between the mountains and it was heading rapidly for us.
The face of the glacier as it hits Inner Lake George:
Amazing mountain views once more:
Coming in high over Lake George Glacier:
...and then circling straight down to check out this incredible phenomenon:
Gigantic, bright blue blocks of ice had broken off from the glacier - but instead of falling into the water like is more common, they just sat there on land, contrasting spectacularly with the black soil. But the sheer size of it all! Each block was as tall as an apartment building - simply incredible.
A picture cannot possibly capture the scale, so here's a terrible Photoshop to give you a better idea:
A bit further on we came across an even bigger scar:
Leaving the ice behind:
Approaching the airport, we spotted a t-rex:
Landed in Girdwood safely, and turned around towards the Kenai Peninsula once more, and our original destination of Soldotna.
Eagle alert:
In Alaska you don't even stop for such a view, that's how spoiled you get. But there were bathrooms here, so...
Found a slamon:
Not a bad place to live:
We got to Soldotna, settled in, had a giant dinner, and that was another awesome day in the bag.
Thursday morning we woke up to a couple of moose grazing in our backyard, but the mother was skittish and took off with her calf as soon as she spotted us. Oh well.
It was a 5-minute drive to our outfitter's base on Mackeys Lakes (yes, plural... don't ask me why), and so it wasn't long before our little floatplane was crossing the coast and heading over the Cook Inlet:
Heading straight into the mountains of the Alaska Peninsula towards Lake Clark National Park:
As we approached Crescent Lake and dropped in altitude, the crazy colors of the lake's water were visible in its outlet rivers:
You know you're in for an awesome day when you haven't even landed yet and you can see grizzlies:
(He's on the lower right, if you missed it.)
There's the lake:
Landing zone:
Company:
Approaching:
Touchdown:
Here's the entire landing:
Back in my happy place:
The lake's colors never cease to amaze me:
And the bears! So many bears, and so close to you that your lens often can't even focus on them:
Chinuch:
Look at that little monster:
On land and in the water, we were just surrounded - no other word for it:
And the views... simply mind-blowing:
I don't think there was any point in the four or so hours we spent on the lake in which we didn't see at least one bear:
Awwwwww:
Less awwwww:
Two short clips just showing the general vibe of the lake:
Bald eagle:
Tundra swan:
We decided to have lunch on shore - not an easy feat when there are dozens of grizzlies around. So after finding a seemingly-empty beach, we made a giant racket to announce our presence to anyone who might be lurking in the bush, and happily had our lunch.
Lunch view:
And as soon as we got back in the boat......:
They had been right behind us the entire time, patiently waiting for us to leave. Just goes to show, once again, that there is a proper and safe way of behaving in bear country. The bears are not interested in a confrontation with you either. (Tatty, if you're reading this - this is for you. I'm still alive.)
My type of guy - he lay down and refused to move, no matter how much his mother and siblings prodded him:
Eventually she did what all mothers do and walked away. The kid got up and ran after her like crazy.
Awesome experience:
One of my favorite pictures of all time:
Unusual light and dark bear:
Belted kingfisher:
Bunch of salmon:
Look who's back! Time to go...
Whole new meaning to exit row seat:
Up, up, and away:
One last view of the lake:
Redoubt volcano is once again hidden in the clouds:
Landed in Soldotna, drove back to Anchorage, and home we went.
And thus my summer of Alaska, and the fourth trip of 2020, came to a close.
THE END