“Good Morning! Its 6:30 a.m. and 42 degrees outside. We are deep in the heart of Glacier Bay National at Margerie Glacier so come on out and enjoy the beautiful view.” So were the waking words of expedition leader Cindy Manning, or at least something close to that. Those who took her advice, and by 7:00 it seemed that all did, were well rewarded with an incredible vista before them. The magnificent Margerie did not disappoint. Towering before us at almost 100 meters high and a mile wide, she joined the Grand Pacific Glacier to make a rather awe inspiring and awesome panoramic vista.
We had travelled through the night, after picking up Tlingit Cultural Interpreter Alice Haldane and National Park Ranger Chelsea Leven at Gustavus, almost 60 miles into Tarr Inlet, at the far end of this UNESCO World Heritage site to witness this wild and wonderful wake-up site. Comprised of 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, forests, and waterways, this one-of-a-kind national park is a definite highlight of Southeast Alaska and our country’s national park system. This is the largest protected wilderness area outside of Antarctica and we spent a memorable day exploring it.
During breakfast we relocated to John Hopkins Inlet to take in the jaw-dropping view of the glacier of the same name (see photo above), just as we rounded the appropriately named Jaw Point. After a relaxing time taking in the wonderful views, we headed out of the Inlet and then south back towards Bartlett Cove, viewing a well-hidden wolf, a bathing brown bear, mountain goats at Gloomy Knob, a humpback whale, and Steller sea lions and their pungent aroma at South Marble Island. A welcome walk around Bartlett Cove rounded out a full day.
