Knik Glacier!

After breakfast with Jay and Sandy, I fueled at Wolf Lake and took off for a rendezvous with Mike and Lou up by the Knik glacier east of Anchorage. We were able to communicate via radio and went searching for a landing area close to George lake at the foot of the glacier. This large lake is full of icebergs calved from the glacial face. As they melt in the summer sun, they form fantastic figures.

Mike has worked for years to acquire the equipment necessary to allow him to get on the water and up to the glacier. He purchased a Zodiac inflatable with a 15 hp motor which we packed in to the lakeshore which required a 1.5 mile hike through alders, across shale covered hills and valleys. We finally got everything organized and began to take turns riding across the 7 mile wide lake among icebergs melting into fantastic shapes until we reached the face of the glacier. We zip along the face, mesmerized by the sight of a 20 story tall ice face filled with veins of deep turquois and amethyst colors. There is some danger in doing this, because if the glacier calves a big berg, we could easily be swamped. Survival in the 33 degree water would be very difficult, so after a few more minutes of oohing and ahhing, photo and video shooting and laughing out loud, we return to the far shore.

Everyone gets a boat ride before Mike has to make a return flight to Birchwood in order to drop off a friend who has been with us this morning. While he is away, Lou and I set up our camp for the evening at a nearby strip called Picnic. Mike flies back in and he a Lou go for another voyage to the glacier. Their photos taken in the evening light are even better.

After they return, we turn in for the night.