Glaciers and glaciers and glaciers, oh my!
Since we ended up having no plans yesterday, we did random stuff around town, like booking a kayak trip at Valdez Glacier Lake (today), a bike ride (tomorrow) and a cruise to Columbia Glacier on Thursday with another company (the other company called and said they're definitely shut down this week). We also visited Valdez Glacier Lake, and watched sea lions catch fish at Allison Point
I kept begging to go on a helicopter tour I read about, which landed on Shoup Glacier (I've been wanting to land on a glacier for years!) and flew over Columbia Glacier. It was expensive, but I was like "I just lived through a pandemic, I deserve this" haha. Plus, the weather was really nice! We went down to the airport where the tours are, and the guy said he could get us in today, and since we were Alaska residents, he'd give us a discount, and Jo would be free! (Ryan has to work from "home" a few days this week, so he couldn't go.) Jo wasn't going to go, but none of us could say no to that deal! Jo had never been in a helicopter or on a glacier..lots of new experiences on this trip for him haha. Oh my, it was SUPER EPIC!! It was beautiful flying out of Valdez and over Prince William Sound and into the green mountains. We saw the little you could see of Shoup Glacier when you're on the ground, flew over a mountain ridge, and squeed SO hard when I saw the REST of the glacier..I didn't realize how big the rest of it is! It was SO awesome and beautiful. Jo was amazed too, and I said "just wait till you see Columbia!!" We found a spot to land near a super blue pool..yay I've landed on a glacier now!! The water from the pool tasted so good. We walked around the glacier for awhile (Jo was nervous because a couple years ago he slipped on ice and broke his leg. Walking on glaciers is definitely not easy!) and saw some moulins (a drainage hole) and just enjoyed the nice weather! I definitely grabbed a rock right off the glacier to take home! After that we took off again and flew over a couple "baby" glaciers..the pilot said he was trying to keep Columbia hidden for as long as possible haha. Then we crested a ridge and there it was! Jo was like "WHOAAA" haha. It may be retreating, but it's still huge! It's one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, and you can definitely tell..lots of crevasses and stuff. Flying right down the face of it was AWESOME..there's nothing like the feeling of being in front of a big tidewater glacier. :D We looked for wildlife on the way back, and saw a couple goats and some bald eagles. That was such an awesome flight, absolutely worth every penny! We were all disappointed in seeing "just" the mountains when we landed LOL..I love how much you see from the air! After we got back to the B&B we played Betrayal at House on the Hill and went to bed
Today the weather has been cloudy and drizzly (good thing we did the helicopter tour yesterday!). Mom and I wanted to find some geocaches, but they were either in somewhere with construction or in the (probably) bear-infested woods..darn. We did go kayaking at Valdez Glacier Lake though. In the past couple years, Valdez Glacier has become very active..some people actually died in 2019 when they got too close to the face and it calved on them. Last year, a mile of ice broke off, making the lake much bigger. We decided to rent kayaks and take a guide, so we could stay safe. We had fun paddling amongst the icebergs, some of which were HUGE. When I kayaked there in 2014 you could see a lot of the glacier, but this time the icebergs were so tall that they blocked the view, unless you were in just the right spot. The guide said the lake changes all the time, which must be interesting. I took some pictures, but not too many because I didn't want to drift on to a piece of ice and get stuck haha. After that we had dinner, ice cream, and are now relaxing. I always love seeing the feral bunnies around Valdez, they're so cute haha
Valdez Glacier Lake on Monday
Looking at Valdez from Allison Point. Love the fireweed!
A lovely day!
Jo having fun watching the sea lions
The birds wanted the fish too haha
The mountain has a hat!
Time to fly over glaciers!!
I'd never done flightseeing in Valdez before, so I had to this time!
*waves to Valdez*
A lot of these won't be perfect and have reflections in them and stuff, but still, SO pretty!!
Poor Shoup Glacier, why are you so small?
So green!!
SQUEEE!!! Shoup Glacier, you are full of surprises! So sad it's hidden from the ground!
OMG its moraines are so awesome. I was totally freaking out haha
*swoons*
The steep drop to the sea!
We've landed!!
A cool blue pool!
So amazingly blue!!!
Yay! (It was SO bright, even with transistion lenses!)
Our helicopter..it's so cute!
A moulin
It was too bright to see the screen, and my hands were cold haha
I got a turn up front after we took off from Shoup *swoons*
How awesome is that??
I sound repetitive by now, but OMG so pretty
It barely even reaches the water anymore!
Aww, a baby glacier :P
Another "baby" glacier..the pilot wasn't sure if it even had a name, which sounds very sad to me haha
This other possibly nameless glacier had been calving a lot!
Coooool
"Welcome to Columbia Glacier!" *dies*
The ice looks "chaotic" since it moves so fast! It's actually illegal to land there, not that you could anyway :P
If you were wondering what Columbia looks like tilted.. :P
MORAINES ARE SO COOOOL
Oh yeahhh
Hi Columbia, we'll be back on Thursday :D
Not sure what river or glacier this is, but it's nice
What a great flight! <3
Kayaking!
You can see a tiny bit of the glacier from here, above the hill on the left
This iceberg was MASSIVE
A volcano iceberg!
My arms were definitely tired after that :P
26. Do you like makeup? No, though movie makeup can look cool
27. What celebrity death(s) effected you the most? Heath Ledger, Steve Irwin, Robin Williams, etc..I still miss them
I kept begging to go on a helicopter tour I read about, which landed on Shoup Glacier (I've been wanting to land on a glacier for years!) and flew over Columbia Glacier. It was expensive, but I was like "I just lived through a pandemic, I deserve this" haha. Plus, the weather was really nice! We went down to the airport where the tours are, and the guy said he could get us in today, and since we were Alaska residents, he'd give us a discount, and Jo would be free! (Ryan has to work from "home" a few days this week, so he couldn't go.) Jo wasn't going to go, but none of us could say no to that deal! Jo had never been in a helicopter or on a glacier..lots of new experiences on this trip for him haha. Oh my, it was SUPER EPIC!! It was beautiful flying out of Valdez and over Prince William Sound and into the green mountains. We saw the little you could see of Shoup Glacier when you're on the ground, flew over a mountain ridge, and squeed SO hard when I saw the REST of the glacier..I didn't realize how big the rest of it is! It was SO awesome and beautiful. Jo was amazed too, and I said "just wait till you see Columbia!!" We found a spot to land near a super blue pool..yay I've landed on a glacier now!! The water from the pool tasted so good. We walked around the glacier for awhile (Jo was nervous because a couple years ago he slipped on ice and broke his leg. Walking on glaciers is definitely not easy!) and saw some moulins (a drainage hole) and just enjoyed the nice weather! I definitely grabbed a rock right off the glacier to take home! After that we took off again and flew over a couple "baby" glaciers..the pilot said he was trying to keep Columbia hidden for as long as possible haha. Then we crested a ridge and there it was! Jo was like "WHOAAA" haha. It may be retreating, but it's still huge! It's one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, and you can definitely tell..lots of crevasses and stuff. Flying right down the face of it was AWESOME..there's nothing like the feeling of being in front of a big tidewater glacier. :D We looked for wildlife on the way back, and saw a couple goats and some bald eagles. That was such an awesome flight, absolutely worth every penny! We were all disappointed in seeing "just" the mountains when we landed LOL..I love how much you see from the air! After we got back to the B&B we played Betrayal at House on the Hill and went to bed
Today the weather has been cloudy and drizzly (good thing we did the helicopter tour yesterday!). Mom and I wanted to find some geocaches, but they were either in somewhere with construction or in the (probably) bear-infested woods..darn. We did go kayaking at Valdez Glacier Lake though. In the past couple years, Valdez Glacier has become very active..some people actually died in 2019 when they got too close to the face and it calved on them. Last year, a mile of ice broke off, making the lake much bigger. We decided to rent kayaks and take a guide, so we could stay safe. We had fun paddling amongst the icebergs, some of which were HUGE. When I kayaked there in 2014 you could see a lot of the glacier, but this time the icebergs were so tall that they blocked the view, unless you were in just the right spot. The guide said the lake changes all the time, which must be interesting. I took some pictures, but not too many because I didn't want to drift on to a piece of ice and get stuck haha. After that we had dinner, ice cream, and are now relaxing. I always love seeing the feral bunnies around Valdez, they're so cute haha
Valdez Glacier Lake on Monday
Looking at Valdez from Allison Point. Love the fireweed!
A lovely day!
Jo having fun watching the sea lions
The birds wanted the fish too haha
The mountain has a hat!
Time to fly over glaciers!!
I'd never done flightseeing in Valdez before, so I had to this time!
*waves to Valdez*
A lot of these won't be perfect and have reflections in them and stuff, but still, SO pretty!!
Poor Shoup Glacier, why are you so small?
So green!!
SQUEEE!!! Shoup Glacier, you are full of surprises! So sad it's hidden from the ground!
OMG its moraines are so awesome. I was totally freaking out haha
*swoons*
The steep drop to the sea!
We've landed!!
A cool blue pool!
So amazingly blue!!!
Yay! (It was SO bright, even with transistion lenses!)
Our helicopter..it's so cute!
A moulin
It was too bright to see the screen, and my hands were cold haha
I got a turn up front after we took off from Shoup *swoons*
How awesome is that??
I sound repetitive by now, but OMG so pretty
It barely even reaches the water anymore!
Aww, a baby glacier :P
Another "baby" glacier..the pilot wasn't sure if it even had a name, which sounds very sad to me haha
This other possibly nameless glacier had been calving a lot!
Coooool
"Welcome to Columbia Glacier!" *dies*
The ice looks "chaotic" since it moves so fast! It's actually illegal to land there, not that you could anyway :P
If you were wondering what Columbia looks like tilted.. :P
MORAINES ARE SO COOOOL
Oh yeahhh
Hi Columbia, we'll be back on Thursday :D
Not sure what river or glacier this is, but it's nice
What a great flight! <3
Kayaking!
You can see a tiny bit of the glacier from here, above the hill on the left
This iceberg was MASSIVE
A volcano iceberg!
My arms were definitely tired after that :P
26. Do you like makeup? No, though movie makeup can look cool
27. What celebrity death(s) effected you the most? Heath Ledger, Steve Irwin, Robin Williams, etc..I still miss them