The mighty Thankful enjoyed stellar weather again yesterday as she powered towards the far end of Johns Hopkins Inlet. The cruise ships aren't allowed in that inlet, so one of them turned around at the entrance ahead of us, and we had the three mile deep bay all to ourselves.
Once again the surface of the water in Glacier Bay was glassy, but Thankful started to rock and pitch in the small swells coming from the shifting and calving ice as we approached the glacier at the head end of the inlet.
Ice bergs, which at first were a novelty to see, became so dense that it was difficult to make progress toward the Johns Hopkins glacier without hitting them. Thankful dodged and weaved her way in, and at noon she was floating silently a half mile from the glacier face.
We sat there, mesmerized by the seemingly living ice for two hours as it calved and shifted providing continuous entertainment for the crew. The cracking ice sounded like rifle shots and calving like explosions that echoed off the fjord walls. Bets were taken on where the next calving episode would take place on the 200 foot high by half mile wide glacier face. The swells produced by the glacier were almost continuous.
Seals, which pup on the bergs near the glacier, were present on nearly every flat berg, and they were occasionally knocked off by the swells.
At 2PM another boat appeared at the mouth of the fjord and we decided to move on. We picked our way out and turned left into Tarr Inlet where we headed for Margerie Glacier at its head end. It is remarkable how different two glaciers can be. Margerie was clean blue ice where Johns Hopkins was dirtier ice full of stones and soil. Margerie appeared to be moving slower as well. It also produced swells and calved, but less frequently while we were watching. After an hour there we turned around and headed for our overnight anchorage off of Russell Island.
The Thankful crew was exhausted after our trips up the ice filled fjords. Dodging the floating ice was like playing a never ending video game for the helmsman, and the consequences of loosing would be a scratched hull or bent propeller. Matt, Vicki, and I each took a share of the duty. It would have been difficult for one person to concentrate for so long.
The crew continues to be awed by the sheer size and distances of the features in the park. The air is so clear and there is nothing man-made that provides perspective. A wall of ice that we think is fifty feet high turns out to be many times higher. What appears to be a half mile away ends up being five times that distance.
We found the anchorage at Russell Island to be just outside the limit of the floating ice so Thankful enjoyed a restful evening in a protected cove.
This morning we are headed back out towards the entrance to Glacier Bay fifty miles distant. Thankful will likely exit the park tomorrow.
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