On Friday, June 27, we are off on a Columbia and Meares Glacier Excursion
We pull out of the Port of Valdez harbor, with "Captain John" at the controls.
We pass by the Coast Guard 110' Long Island.
For a view of this ship in 2006, click over to < http://www.davevdw.net/Alaska-Val.htm >
This will also show you our views of Valdez during that year.
We pass by the Trans-Alaska Pipeline terminal on our way out the Prince William Sound.
An Alaska Marine Highway ship rushing in to Valdez.
We see one of the many glaciers near Valdez as we travel south along the Valdez Arm.
Some salmon fishing boats at work.
A factory ship at work sucking out the hold or the nets of one of the smaller fishing trawlers.
The water is sucked out of the net. As it passes by a grid, the fish drop out (see close up below)
and the excess water is pumped overboard.
If you look closely, you can see the fish just below the grid.
(If not take our word for it.)
We head on out of the Valdez Arm headed now for the Columbia Glacier.
But of course, the camera lens just keeps looking and clicking at the scenery as we pass by.
It is a cold (mid to high 40's), wet, (rain almost the entire trip) day.
But. who cares, right?
We see our first chunks of ice, coming down from the Columbia Glacier.
The chunks become more numerous as we close in...
The end of the trail. All this ice is lodged on the bottom at the relatively shallow Terminal Moraine.
The glacier face is some 18 miles away.
An eagle sits atop a large block of ice, looking for dinner.
We head back south, out of the Columbia Bay.
In the distance we see 'rafts' of Sea Otters resting.
This one, was on a chunk of ice.
As we get closer to the Meares Glacier, the temperature is...
An eagle is giving us the 'eagle eye'.
Look at the top of the fresh green - an eagles nest, with just the tip of 'her' white head showing.
We round a curve, and we catch our first view of the Meares Glacier.
We can see that the glacier at this point has two arms feeding it, from the left & right.
A lot of loose ice chunks near its base.
We get as close as we dare.
Bits of ice surround us.
.We wait, and wait to see if the Mears will 'calve' for us.
(The smudge on the lens, upper left, is one of several raindrops)
But after 45 minutes of engines off, just waiting, all we see are several small ice slides like this one.
So, we leave the blue ice and head out of the Unakwik Inlet
Before long we see plenty of Sea Otter's resting
'Come on guys, leave us alone will you?'
We are in luck, a Humpback whale makes an appearance near us.
I started the motor drive, and just started clicking.
What follows is just a fraction of the images collected, but I just had to share them with you.
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All gone (almost)
Soon, we see another Humpback, blowing and announcing its arrival on the surface.
Down it goes.
And a third one comes up to show off for us.
OK - enough of the whales already...
But couldn't resist, sorry.
We pass by Point Bull Head, a high promontory, and at the base...
(Sorry about the rain smudges on the lens)
The Harbor Seals 'hang out.'
This marker notes the location of the Bligh Reef, where the infamous Exxon Valdez ran aground
on March 24, 1989. (See map/chart below)
If you look carefully, you can make out the red dot, upper right, which is where the town of Valdez is located.
We initially left the Port Valdez by transiting the Valdez Arm and then looped into Columbia Glacier.
From there, again south out of the Columbia Bay, and west and then into the Unakwik Inlet for a visit to the Meares Glacier.
And the way back to Valdez, we pass by where the Exxon Valdez struck the
Bligh Reef (red circle on the map), before we headed back into the Valdez Arm.
Many active waterfalls as we head back toward the dock.
Here, a closer view of the waterfall shown in the previous image.
Another fast flowing stream, and (below), a closer view, we can still see the snow/ice at the waterline.
And one, more, before we come into Valdez. (below)
A great trip. Thank you Captain John.