In Alaska we saw beautiful Glaciers from the ship and got a chance to fly over Glaciers. Today's adventure involved walking on a Glacier. They took us out in these really cool buses with huge tires (the path over the Glaciers involves a very steep decline in elevation (35%) - our driver told us that was twice what would be allowed on a normal road).
We had fun walking on the Glacier. They had roped off an area so we were sure not to encounter any crevices so we were pretty safe. I must admit it was a little hard to tell the difference between having 800 feet of ice/packed snow under our feet and 6 inches!
Next came Kevin's favorite part of the trip. The park service recently worked with Brewster tours to create a Glacier skywalk. This is a glass bottomed structure that they have cantilevered over the Glacier so everyone can get a view of the top. They reassured us that the award winning design could support the weight of 2 747s - but Kevin's years as a programmer made him a bit uneasy that the the implementation would really meet its design goals.
Next we stopped at Mistaya Canyon - which involved a short hike to more beautiful scenery below.
Last but not least, we tried the Bow Valley Parkway again - and this time we got to observe a large moose munching on trees and bushes very near us on the side of the road.
A long, full day - hoping we are able to sleep in tomorrow!
Just a bit more on the glacier we walked on. It is receding 15 meters a year and is expected to be gone in 70 years. (And at the rate it is receding our return trip from the glacier was a half inch shorter than the trip out.)
ReplyDeleteThe Glacier Skywalk is cool! Joseph has been talking about going to Glacier Park forever also. I now see why summer is the only time to go. Did you pack enough warm clothes?
ReplyDelete