Glaciers, Moose, and Bears, Oh My!

A day to explore took us about an hour south of Anchorage. The drive was breath-taking.  It was  bright and sunny as we made our way around the most scenic drive ever, which took us right next to one of my favorite Alaskan treasures, the mountains.  In other trips in the past, I would have had my nose buried in a book or would have been painstakingly scribbling postcards, but I just could not take my eyes off the mountains.  And our destination was something similarly unique that we had yet to experience on this trip, a glacier!

Don had discovered a cruise that promised to take us very near the massive Portage Glacier itself, and we were not to be disappointed.  When we were in Alaska several years ago, there had been so much rain that the glaciers looked more like mountains with chunks of ice floating nearby.  However, this time, we were to experience "the real deal."

As the cruiser launched and started to move away from the shore,  the warm sun could not keep up with the brisk wind and the temperatures that kept dropping and dropping.  It was obvious that we were destined to points much colder than we had yet experienced in Alaska.  I zipped up my jacket and my windbreaker and even put up the hood, which I had rarely done during the whole trip.  Out came the gloves we were told to bring, and I was really glad I had them!  We rounded the bend, and we could see the massive white and blue glacier!  Quite an impressive showing from Mother Nature.

Everyone quickly made their way to the side of cruise-liner with the best view...the voice of the guide was quickly drowned out by a huge crashing, crashing, crashing sound.  The glacier was calving before our very eyes, and huge pieces tumbled down and splashed dramatically as they hit the water!  What a display!

Our guide from the U.S. Forest Service told us the visible part of the glacier was at least 300 feet high, but what we could not see was the submerged part, going another 300 feet beneath the surface.  We learned the "blue" sections of the glacier are the coldest, and our captain took a sampling of the water around the boat, and we dipped our hands into it and were told it was 36 degrees F.  Burrrr!  We did typical tourist things, such as had our photo taken with the ship's rescue life-preserver and just generally had a very memorable afternoon.

 The next adventure was equally intriguing.  We traveled just a few miles to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center.  This was literally a safari of Alaskan wildlife, which a traveler could view from his  car while traveling around the large acreage, or he  could get out to get a more close-up view.  As we watched a brown bear mother and cub interact just a few feet from us, Don commented, "I am pretty sure that top wire (on the fence) is electric."  We hoped!  It was really wonderful to observe them so "up close and personal. " We had found our Alaskan bears!

Not to be outdone, in another area in close proximity were the black bears.  They were being fed and were harder to photograph because of their dark color and the shadows, but Don managed to get this really wonderful shot of one as he scampered around in the sunlight for a few moments.

Everyone we encountered seemed to be intrigued by the Alaskan moose, and there were frequent signs along the highway system reminding us to be on the lookout for them.  Imagine our amazement when this one seemed to be staring right at us!  We will remember that gaze and his wonderful massive antlers, flanked in the background by the scenic mountains.  What a view!

We quietly returned to our car and were satisfied that we had seen amazing things today, which one cannot duplicate in the midwest...glaciers, bears, and moose!  What a day!