Skiffing into a Glacial Lake

  Five years ago we used to walk guests right up to this glacier and then up on top. It was a grounded glacier, receding away from the fjord it created. No one expected it to recede so fast that in just a few years time not only can we not walk on the glacier but we can hardly even see it. Now there is an expansive lake filled with dying chunks of ice, broken off from the glacier. This is the state that Baird Glacier, in Thomas Bay, is in today. See Baird Glacier 2 years ago during my first visit here.

High Res Landscape Pictures

 Despite the gloomy state of the glacier, if you can make it up to the lake it is a magical place of ice and tranquility. However, getting to the lake is no easy feat. A white knuckle small boat ride can get you into the glacial melt river which is ever present, cutting its way through the mud and rocks of the terminal moraine. The river is usually a few feet deep, however with all the glacial flour deposited in the river the visibility of the water is an inch or two at best. Which means you never know when the depth goes from a couple of feet to six inches. On this day I only tapped one shallow rock thanks to our timing this at high tide. So we were able to make it up into the lake to explore another ice garden.

My depth sounder

Lake within a lake

  It is both sad and amazing to see the leftovers of Baird glacier, grounded in the shallow lake the melting glacier has created. The different hues of blue are all around, as are giant forested cliffs. Animal tracks crisscross across the mud, and we saw a black bear walk along the shore, adding its tracks to the natural mosaic. We could only go so far into the lake before being blocked by shallow water and walls of grounded ice bergs. The face of Baird Glacier remains out of reach.

  You can read about other ice gardens and glaciers visited here:

Ice Gardens: From Glacier National Park to Le Conte
Glaciers: Alaska, Argentina, Kilimanjaro, and New Zealand