Glacier Bay 2001

Our first backcountry trip into the Park, where we introduced a group of desert rats to ice water and tidewater glaciers.

The Crew:

Major Tom: Captain
Carolyn: Majorette and bow-frau
Hardware Dave Lubkert: First-mate and magnetic anomoly
Terry Wright: Geologist and rock-star
Killer Cain: Video-grapher
Garbage Mike Siegler: John Muir reincarnation and main-moraine-man
June Weider: Chiropractor
Andy Browne: Photographer
Swace DuPlessis: Bear bait
Wayne Marchant: Magoo valet and pyromaniac

 

A rainy week proceeding our launching turns to blessed beautiful weather:

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003.jpg (32925 bytes)  Carolyn in front of Carolyn Point 

004.jpg (56353 bytes) Terry in front of Mt. Wright 005.jpg (33073 bytes)

 

Some of the crews catch up on a little sleep, unknowing that cloudless views are hard to come by.

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The shuttle ferry, Crystal Fjord, drops us off at Hugh Miller Inlet. We had so much gear, we had to leave some cached behind the beach.

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Our first night was spent on Skidmore Bay, followed by the promise of a beautiful day. We watched a humpback whale play in the cove as we saw to our morning's chores.

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We land at the isthmus connecting Gilbert Penninsula to the mainland, which is scheduled to flood with a fourteen foot tide, giving us easy access to the big water in the main arm of Glacier Bay. GPS helps us determine tides and timing, to hit our rendezvous right, and be able to enjoy a little lunch before watching the incursion.

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The big water, uncharacterisically as calm and smooth as glass.

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Paddeling past Reid Glacier, and finding a dirty berg from the Grand Pacific Glacier

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Our furthest camp, at Ptarmegan Creek, below Lamplugh Glacier and the John Hopkins Inlet.

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Our day trip to Lamplugh Glacier, where this tidal glacier gave us a wonderful show of seracs calfing into the fjord. (The ice fell off and went boom.)

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We return to the flooded isthmus, and make camp at the base of Skidmore Glacier

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054.jpg (54840 bytes)  Back at our Hugh Miller Inlet rendezvous, the wreckage is sorted quickly as we see the Crystal Fjord ferry on its way to retrieve us.

055.jpg (51913 bytes)  Back home in Haines, Terry whistles a tune to the Rainbow Glacier, from atop Mt. Riley.