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More Paddling Bear Glacier Alaska

The Lake on Bear Glacier - big floaty ice bits!

I received an email out of the blue from Ron, the kayak guide from Backcountry Safaris who showed me around Bear Glacier on my recent travels to Alaska. He’d just returned after packing down his camp in the woods for the Winter, and had a couple of photos of our trip. Now I know I’ve probably bored you all to death with all my Alaska photos, but it reminded me what a truly spectacular place it is, and how handy it was to have my Folbot Cooper with me. Plus, it’s my site so I can do what I like – haha! Cheers – FP

Looking at Bear Glacier, the Harding Icefield's biggest chunk of moving ice.

Tags: Alaska, Bear Glacier, Folbot, Folbot Cooper, icebergs

Posted by fatpaddler | November 4th, 2009 Filed in Great Paddles, Paddles

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Alaska Backcountry Part 3: Blue Icebergs

Folbot Cooper set for the search

Glacial ice is super-old, compressed, and gives off a brilliant blue hue. My kayak trek to Alaska involved hunting for the bluest ice I could find, and on this particular day the clouds were thick, the rain settled in and according to Ron my guide, these were perfect conditions for really blue ice to be found.

Ron the guide, from http://www.backcountrysafaris.com

Of course, I had to get over the fact that outside our camp, and importantly, outside the electric fence around our camp, were fresh bear tracks and bear poop. And there was a good 200m walk through bush to get from the camp to our kayaks – a path that also showed signs of bear usage. I could not get in my kayak quickly enough!

Camp: Look closely for the electric fence

Heading out into the Alaskan weather

An ever-watchful seal - top left corner!

Paddling on this day was wet, and cold, and I was pretty happy that I’d put on an extra layer of thermals underneath my drysuit. We decided to paddle down the right-hand arm of the lake and into the salmon creek at it’s end, and hopefully find blue ice on the way. It wasn’t long before we found it.

First set of ice, but is it blue enough?

Now THAT is blue ice

Seriously blue, and seriously old, glacial ice

Fat Paddler up close to the Big Blue

It’s hard to put into words what it was like being around 10,000 year old blue ice, surrounded by low-level cloud, cold winds blowing off the glacier, and the gentle fall of rain in your face. It’s beautiful and yet stark, mysterious. And not something I’m likely to see again any time soon.

For the rest of the day I paddled amongst the blue icy giants in the rain before setting off in the afternoon for the pick-up point at the original glacial morraine. My time in the Alaskan wilderness at Bear Glacier was coming to an end, and I had succeeded in my quest.

The original morraine on the Pacific Ocean

Tags: Alaska, Bear Glacier, Blue Ice, icebergs, Kenai Fjords National Park, seals

Posted by fatpaddler | September 3rd, 2009 Filed in Great Paddles, Paddle Fauna

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Alaska Backcountry Part 2: Bear Glacier

Fat Paddler checking out the 'bergs

One of the highlights of the Alaskan paddling experience was getting my kayak up close to enormous icebergs, just to feel the grandeur of these magnificent natural structures. All whilst trying to keep some distance in case they roll over and flatten a fat fella in a kayak that might be close by!

"Tabasco", my Folbot Cooper

It is hard to describe what these things are like. Only a mere fraction pokes up above the water, meaning the majority of these are underwater. But you can’t see that, because the glacial silt makes the water milky and hides anything more than a few inches deep. It all adds to the mystery, and the danger, of these giants. And of course, it adds to the beauty of them.