Today I went on a kayak trip to Columbia Glacier through Anadyr Adventures, a local guiding company. The day began at 8 am at Anadyr, where our guide, Amy, gave the group a talk on safety and paddling technique and we were fitted with rain gear (boots, pants, spray skirts) and life jackets. Then we headed to the small boat harbor, where we loaded our gear on the water taxi and headed out to the drop off point, about one hour away. The boat ride to Columbia was gorgeous - today was the first sunny day in Valdez in over a week and it was absolutely wonderful.
The water taxi dropped us off on a small rocky cove in Heather Bay, which was covered in enormous icebergs that had calved from Columbia Glacier. We explored the area while we waited for the tide to come in. The icebergs scattered the landscape as far as the eye could see and mountains filled the background.
Icebergs at our starting point
As the tide started coming in, we packed our kayaks and began paddling through iceberg-filled water. I shared a kayak with a very nice woman named Sue from Missouri, who has been traveling in Alaska for the past month. We glided over the still water and marveled at the icebergs towering all around in white and beautiful shades of bright light blue. The sun shining on the icebergs made them glow, as if lit from within and the clouds and icebergs reflected on the clear, calm water.
After kayaking for a couple of hours, we headed to a little island for lunch. We climbed to the top of a hill and enjoyed a view right out of National Geographic. From our vantage point, we could see the countless icebergs floating away from Columbia Glacier. In the other direction, we had a view into Prince William Sound and could even see Glacier Island in the distance (I went on a kayak trip to Glacier Island in June). Amazingly, the land we ate lunch on is brand new. It was covered by ice from Columbia Glacier until 1987.
About to land for lunch
Columbia Glacier and the Columbia Ice Field
Another view from our lunch site
After lunch, we headed away from the ice field and across a cove to see a beautiful waterfall. The water in the area was a gorgeous emerald green color and the waterfall was tucked into a lovely wooded cove. After enjoying the waterfall for a little while, we headed to the water taxi, which was waiting for us nearby. The trip was absolutely amazing and I feel so thankful to have been able to go and see all that I did!
Awesome photos
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