The Walkabout: Kenai Fjords: How Much Does a Polar Bear Weigh?...

...enough to break the ice!

Well here is the exciting conclusion of my Kenai Fjords Tour. With our trusty Captain of the Coastal Explorer navigating the gut-wrenchingly choppy open-Alaskan waters, we finally reached the other-wordly tidal glaciers. Never have I seen a shoreline ice giant like this before. An enormous natural beast with a growl to match. The ship passengers, present company included, were lucky enough to be close to the glacier as it calved - the ice breaking off the body of the glacier and sliding off into the ocean. This awe-inspiring event attacked multiple senses...and I'm talking full-out war! Take the thundercracking sound of the glacial crashes in North Cascades and amplify it 10 fold. It was like an armada of supersonic jets breaking the sound barrier at the same time. Not a face on the ship didn't turn when the ice would break.

After having my mind blown by the glaciers it was time to fare the open ocean waters once again. The way back was far less white-knuckly than the approach voyage...a sensation I should have expected seeing how I was one of the few fools who opted to stay outside on the ship's bow at top speed. However, my adrenaline-boiled blood was helping me stay warm against the harshly cold ocean air.

As the ship narrowly avoided capsizing and crashing into seacliffs, as the Captain tried to capitalize on sealife views, I became friends with a gentleman named Gary. This life-torn man had experienced some very serious medical traumas over the last few years and told me how he was spending his time now checking off items from his bucket list. With an exterior of tempered steel, Gary was a sensitive flower at the core. Don't tell him I said that though. On the outside, Gary was your stereotypical "tough guy" but once you got to know him he was far from that. I don't know what possessed him to take pity on me (perhaps a sensitive nose) but by the time our ship made it to port he offered me the key to his hotel room so that I could go upstairs and use the shower. At first I was concerned over all the childhood warnings of "stranger danger" but I had a trusting feeling in this guy. That of course didn't stop me from taking my knife in the shower with me but hey. Once cleaned up I headed back downstairs to meet Gary who also offered to drive me back towards the direction of my tent. Before saying our final farewells, Gary, in a final round of generosity, offered to drive me in the morning to the trailhead of the Harding Icefield. But all thats for the next post...

I don't want to even hear it! Yes...this is from the Titanic soundtrack. The other options were Ice Ice Baby and "Seal's" Kissed by a Rose. This one won based on a scale of epicness.