First Time to the East Face of Columbia Glacier, Prince William Sound, Alaska

 

Beautiful blues of the Columbia Glacier.

What a day! I have been to the largest tidewater glacier in Prince William Sound, Alaska twice before, but never have I been able to make it up to the massive east face of the glacier. After receding nearly 14 miles over the past forty years, Columbia glacier has split into several calving faces. The smaller west branch is usually easier to access, because of less ice. If we could get within five miles of the east face it was considered a success. However, this day we got to about three and a half miles, and decided today was the day. We loaded up our small skiffs, and took off, weaving our way around massive icebergs. Sea otters and harbor seals looked on curiously as we drove by, getting ever closer to the calving face of the glacier.

It seemed like the glacier created a pocket of blue sky, while the rest of Prince William Sound was steeped in low grey clouds. It was a surreal experience. We sat and listened to the ice. It almost seemed to talk to us in creaks and groans, and thunderous roars. A huge calving event sent rolling waves our direction. We finally had to make our turn and work out way back to the coziness of the Safari Explorer. It was a morning filled with beauty and awe.

We often find seals among the ice, but today we found sea otters as well.

Big calving event at the glacier face. This glacier is dynamic to say the least.

I love the snowy mountain rising above the mist behind the glacier in this shot.

We affectionately call icebergs covered in birds 'air craft carriers'.

Jagged peaks and valleys of the glacier face.

I had a hard time explaining this almost perfectly round hole in the ice. This was part of a remnant glacier, left stranded and unattached to the current iceflow after the glacier receded back.

Ice from recent calvings floats serenely in front of the face of Columbia Glacier.

Huge iebergs abound near the face of Columbia Glacier.

Me in my guiding element.

We couldn't ask for nicer conditions for soaking in the beauty of Columbia Glacier.

Iceberg with the glacier just behind.

We sent out our small boats to weave our way through the ice, making it about three and a half miles to the face of Columbia Glacier for the first time.

Photographers dream. The frozen landscape is like no other.

An unusual piece of ice.

The east face of Columbia Glacier. Usually it is inaccessible due to the amount of ice in front of it.

Frozen landscape photography.

Even with a panorama, it was hard to capture the vastness of Columbia Glacier.