Ever so softly, without even a whisper, a snowflake gently settles. Layer upon snowy layer stacks upon themselves to fill mountain basins. Flakes change to amorphous masses that coalesce into solid ice. The weight becomes intense. Basal pressures build and squeeze until this mass begins to flow. Down is its only destination. It winds north and south gathering more ice and rock from its neighbors until it forms a mighty stream. Boulders become trapped and are pressed against the sides. They gouge and scar, grinding the surrounding rock as they travel. This slow and deliberate journey finally ends in the ocean.
This mass of frozen power does not meet its fate complacently. When we arrived, a 250-foot wall of blue ice glared defiantly at the sea. We stared out at a turquoise battleground filled with white bits and pieces from previous fights. Salt water still nibbled away at its feet. Cracking and snapping, groaning and growling, this giant was slowly being consumed. White walls crumbled and ice towers tumbled as a gray fluid poured from its throat. From a snowy humble beginning, a force was built that can grind mighty mountains to dust, only to return to its watery beginnings.
Our day was superb. Gray skies turned sunnier as we cruised north. After viewing horned and tufted puffins at South Marble Island, the sunshine bathed us in warmth. Bears and goats slowed our progress to the kingdom of glaciers. The Johns Hopkins Glacier is shown here winding down from Mt. Orville. We later watched the defiant Margerie Glacier calving tons of ice, a spectacular episode in its battle with the sea.
This mass of frozen power does not meet its fate complacently. When we arrived, a 250-foot wall of blue ice glared defiantly at the sea. We stared out at a turquoise battleground filled with white bits and pieces from previous fights. Salt water still nibbled away at its feet. Cracking and snapping, groaning and growling, this giant was slowly being consumed. White walls crumbled and ice towers tumbled as a gray fluid poured from its throat. From a snowy humble beginning, a force was built that can grind mighty mountains to dust, only to return to its watery beginnings.
Our day was superb. Gray skies turned sunnier as we cruised north. After viewing horned and tufted puffins at South Marble Island, the sunshine bathed us in warmth. Bears and goats slowed our progress to the kingdom of glaciers. The Johns Hopkins Glacier is shown here winding down from Mt. Orville. We later watched the defiant Margerie Glacier calving tons of ice, a spectacular episode in its battle with the sea.
