Sunhusky's Alaska: Flashback! First Glacier Cruise, Part 1

June's First Glacier Cruise

Summer 2003, Whittier, Alaska

Phillips 26 Glacier Cruise on the Klondike

Okay, you're going to have to bear with me a moment as I didn't blink and suddenly wind up on the Klondike. We had to get there first, which involved driving (Well, Rosemary driving, me just gawking out the windows) down Seward Highway and a stop at the Wildlife Center, also my first visit there.

The trees fascinated me. They are trees killed in the Earthquake of '64 when the ground they were on was displaced below sea-level. When they pointed them out to us ashore during the cruise, they called them "Toothpick Forests," which seeme an appropriate name.

Rosemary feeding the moose which, no, you can't do anymore. I think that was Seymoure on the right, star of many an Alaskan commerical.

Me feeding the moose and probably thinking, uh, Rosemary, these things are bigger than me, much, much bigger!

Sarah watching me....uh, I have no clue what I was doing or saying. The right moose seems to have found it amusing tho', cos that sure looks like a moose laugh.

Because of Foxy, I've always had a weak spot for foxes. This one is one of those that lives at the Alaska Wildlife Center, then called Big Game Alaska.

Rotten picture but had to includee it as it's of Berry, a bear cub, that was in a dog crate inside the gift shop.

A very young, orphaned moose. Sadly, there are usually one or two of them around every summer.

Hey, we had to drive through a mountain to get to Whittier! Vehicle traffic shares the tunnel with the train, so you have to abide by their schedule and there is frequently a line of traffic backed up. Looks like it was raining.

How excited was I? Excited enough to be taking pictures of cars going into the tunnel despite the rain on the windshield.

Heck, I was excited enough to be taking photos of the square of light at the end of the tunnel, too, as we neared the Whittier side.

This is it. That's Whittier. Seriously, almost everyone who lives there lives in that building, Begich Towers, named for the father of the current Alaskan Senator Mark Begich.

We're obviously aboard the Klondike (first photo above) and on our way. Gorgeous scenery and tons of birds. Those white specks you see are birds, Kittiwakes.

Another not so great shot, taken through the windows of the Klondike, but I was awed by the play of the light. At that point, I don't think I really quite realized how much closer to that sight we'd get.

Oh, man, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, albeit a wet, cold heaven.

We were told that we could consider it good photo-wise that it was rainy, however, cos it helped bring out the blues in the ice.

It sorta creeps up on you, then you realize you're seeing lots and lots of floatig chunks in the water. Titanic, anyone?

And then you notice that the floating ice begins to appear more and more solid as you cruise into what is an ice field.

I was obviously inside enjoying the warmth of the ship, but notice that there are some darn good sized chunks of ice out there.

That dirty chunk of ice is an iceberg. I have some vague memory of reading that the giant iceberg that did in the Titanic might have been upside down, too, which is the case with this one, and thus harder to see in the darkness. Don't you just love my Titanic lore, all of which was playing through my mind as we began to bump chunks of ice. They assured me we were safe, tho', and then gave us life jacket instructions. Like that'd help in that water?

This might be Harvard Glacier? Maybe Rosemary will know. What sights I was seeing, sights I never really expected to see again at that point once I flew back to Florida. Ah, life is what happens when you're busy making other plans...

That big chunk of black is another upside down iceberg. There's a whole series of shots of it essentially breaking into pieces that actually distracted me from the main part of the glacier for awhile.

Then again, how can you ignore this beauty?

Looking over Rosemary's shoulder at the glacier and breaking apart iceberg. Yes, I know they have a name, but, hey, at least I'm not calling 'em "baby icebergs, Rosemary!" Ha