ALASKA BLOGGING TRIO- GLACIERS & ICE AND WHAT IS LEFT BEHIND

Glacier! Snow falls and is undisturbed until the next snowfall. Over the years, decades, centuries, eons the ice builds higher, higher and higher yet till it flow like a river, down towards the sea. There it breaks off, calving, sometimes in little pieces as shown here, sometimes in big pieces weighing many many tons. As the glacier melts, it withdraws up into the gorge allowing the sea to follow.

As the ice retreats, it scours the face of the rock leaving only multicolored striations and scratches where rock grinds on rock in its slow but never ceasing travel. When the ice is gone, only the bare rock remains. In time, dirt and dust will collect in the crevices and seeds, deposited by the wind or by birds will begin to sprout, bringing forth life, and life will out. It always does.

And as we travel through the inland passage, the sun breaks through, liming the distant mountains with a heady brightness.