Among The Ice

Glacier Bay National Park is a 600,000 acre playground encompassing water, ice, rock and forest. It is also the site of the fastest documented glacier recession in human history. Because of this, the land and sea are in a constant state of change. As you cruise from the head of the bay into the arms, you are in essence seeing what the land looked like further back in time. You can stand amongst old growth temperate rainforest where just 250 years ago in the same spot, an immense glacier scoured the earth.

For two summers I have guided people into some of the furthest reaches of Glacier Bay. Every time I slid my kayak back onto the boat or stepped off the shore, I had to fight the urge to just stay. It is a wild, untouched place that is incredibly hard to access. No roads connect the park to the rest of the world. In that sense, working on a boat has incredible benefits. We were dropped off deep inside the park boundary and paddled for seven heavenly days into the East Arm, a section of the park that sees few visitors. It was a wonderful journey and at last…we were able to just stay.

Seven days of food in three small bearproof cans

A humpback whale surfaces just 100 yards from our kayaks

The mother ship arrives to pick us up

The Wilderness Explorers

On August 01, 2013
By Randall Tate
In Editorial, Self-Assignment, Wilderness
0

Expedition Guide – Sarah

Working on a small adventure cruise boat in Alaska has its privileges. Our office is grand, ever changing, truly wild and filled with large mammals. We get fed three hot meals a day while we work and play outside. But living and working on a boat also has its downsides. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week we are confined to a small space with the same folks. Thankfully I was privileged to work with a fine crew this summer. Here are only few of the 60+ people that rotated on and off of the Wilderness Explorer.