June 28, 2010

Endicott Arm and Ford's Terror


Bald eagle lifts off the ice.

Arctic terns align at low tide.


The water in Endicott Arm has a milky turquiose color on account of the glacial activity pulverizing rock and putting it in suspension.

The denser ice has a blue color on account of .... some other reasons .. or this other thing...I think.

Glaucous wing seagulls




A juvenile eagle trying to keep as much distance as possible from the adult eagle - without leaving home.

Dan emerges from the quarter berth, chomping at the bit for his next turn at the tiller.





We snagged some smaller pieces of floating ice to mix into gin and tonics.

Freeny says this is pre-industrial water - since it takes a few hundred years for the water to pass from rain to glacier, to floating ice - so that makes it cleaner than Perrier.



John Muir paddled up Endicott Arm in 1879.


Black bear getting distracted from scraping mussels.

A true beast from the Animal Kingdom.



A Grizzly bear scavenges for shellfish at low tide.




Our anchorage at the terminus of Ford's Terror.



Killing time while we wait for the slack-water high tide at Ford's Terror. In between high and low tide, water races at 15 mph through a narrow break in immense glaciated granite mountains.

Even at slack-high, the water is boiling and running fast across a narrow shoal with poorly marked rocks. Fucking stressful.

Dan paddles out to retrieve water to top off our tanks.



Humpback whales mulling about Holkam Bay at the mouth of Endicott Arm
Kevin Patrick Freeny in the flat, gray shadow of Sumdum Glacier.



If you have a broad definition of the word 'dry', then you are never actually wet on the Alize.

6 comments:

Rick said...

Amazing photos. What a special place.

Pat Freeny said...

YeeHaa! Ford's Terror_ Yosemite Valley half full of water!

Toddy said...

Jesus, I would have been terrible at that. I would have brought all the wrong clothes, for one.

zakku said...

This is fucking epic. (I it's a fmaily blogand I apologize, but someone had to say it.)

Danielle said...

checking zour blog from slovenia, where the z character is located where the y should be on the kezboard. it is amaying to look at the photos and see three of mz favorite guzs in the whole world (dan is a new addition)adventuring up the inside passage of alaska. totallz epic.

Kimberly said...

great photos of the wildlife, and nice to see you're learning your birds. looks like you're having a helluva time. whilst enjoying yourself, please think of us poor bastards back in seattle who are writing our dissertations and do send us some good "finishing" vibes.