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
Well done!
Beautiful.
Awesome.
And this was in summer – imagine how cold it must be there in winter!
Normally we put the kayak away for winter but last year we bought shark skins which are a wetsuit with fleece on the inside and we have been out a lot even though some mornings we have woken up to find ice on the kayak – here in Australia, can you imagine?
I notice that they do not have a coffee boat there in Alaska. If anyplace could do with one, that would be it!
Cheers!
Snoskred
Superb and inspiring pictures!
Congratulations!
Bert
Thanks everyone! Snoksred, I have Sharkskins too which I’ve been using during the winter for the pre-sunrise paddling, and also took them to Alaska. Of course, they were no where NEAR warm enough for Alaska! i wore three layers of thermals under the sharkskins, which were all under my dry-suit! And I was still shivering!! 🙂
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.
LOVE these photos. We kayak all the time in Florida … but Alaska looks like a ton more fun. Thanks for sharing on Twitter!
@Travelblggr