Skiff Tour and Surprise Mountain Climb at Chenega Glacier, Alaska

 

View from the skiff of the adventurous hikers, breaking new ground and looking just epic.

One of the best parts of expedition cruising is the flexibility to discover new adventures and to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. Today was one of those days. I took out a fun contingent of guests for a glacial skiff tour. We started off with a beautiful waterfall, and then were shocked by a mountain goat mom with a tiny kid, only thirty feet above us. Usually when I see mountain goats they are hundreds, or even thousands of feet high. They appear as little dots of off-white amongst the cliffs. Today was one of the closest, and most intimate encounters in my nine years of guiding here in Alaska.

Wild mountain goats on the almost sheer side of the thousand foot cliffs.

Next we drove into a cave, just because we could. The high tide definitely helped, and the photos turned out pretty cool.

Deep inside a cave. I always think back to my days on the tall ship Tole Mour, driving hundreds of yards into the deep dark Painted Cave in the Channel Islands whenever I find a new cave to explore by small boat.

Then we headed to the face of the glacier. It was very active. Pieces of ice were calving to our left, to our right, and right in front of us. No wonder there was so much floating ice when we came into the bay. I can sit in front of a glacier all day, just mesmerized by the beauty and art that nature can create.

Nature can create incredible works of art in the ice of a glacier.

Finally, I took the guests across the face of the glacier. About halfway, I noticed a giant boulder mountain in front of the glacier. The rock looked grippy, so good for climbing, so I changed our plans to offer a bit of a rock climb in front of a glacier. It pushed the boundaries of the guests, and showed them what was really possible. Being able to take advantage of these opportunities, and create new adventures on the fly, is something I really appreciate about my job. This will be a memory that this group will share for a long time. It is definitely a highlight of being an expedition leader.

Here we go. Surprise rock climb, engaged.

A bald eagle flies in front of the ice, making it look like a photoshopped cut out.

Skiff tour inside a cave? Yes, please.

"Lets nose up here and climb this rocky outcropping" -the expedition leader (me)

The guests expanded what they thought was possible.

The feeling of triumph for pushing yourself and discovering new adventures.

Our skiff looks so small from way up here, and in front of a massive tidewater glacier.

Deep crevasses in the face of the glacier showing some of that glacier blue.

I'm definitely not taking the skiff into this cave at the bottom of the glacier.

and this is why.

Mom and kid

We spotted my favorite duck, the harlequin duck. The male is the fancy, painted looking one in front.

Looking at us, looking at them.

Harbor seals, using the chunks of floating ice in front of the glacier as a resting spot.

Lots of harbor seals.

These seals were quite curious about us, yet timid at the same time. We kept our distance so as not to disturb them too much.

Low tide at a glacier, lets take advantage and check out the ice garden.

Panorama of the glacier from an unusual vantage point.