After chatting to several other boat owners and doing some additional research we decided against taking HooRoo into an icefield for glacier viewing. Instead we took a tour with a local guide out of Wrangell and had a fantastic experience. It was quite a small aluminium boat which carried only 6 passengers; ourselves and 4 Israelis. The boat had a jet engine as props can be easily damaged by the semi-submerged ice; plus we travelled over a large shallow area in order to reach the inlet leading up to the glacier.
Le Conte Glacier is the southernmost saltwater terminating glacier in North America. During the mid 90's Le Conte Glacier was the fastest receding glacier in North America. Since it was first charted in 1887, it has receded approximately 6 miles, which indicates that it is very actively calving.
At the start of the inlet there were numerous ice-bergs and we were lucky to have a bright sunny day so the colours were amazing – so many shades of ice blue! As we travelled further into the inlet the ice pieces were smaller and more numerous and we had to weave our way through them. There were hundreds of seals in small groups on the ice flow and as we passed close by many groups of seals I was amazed by the variety in their colouring. Some good photo opportunities - seal pups are very cute.
Then to the head of the bay and the glacier which was impressive, even from a mile away. Not much calving happening on the day but the glacier itself and the surrounding mountain scenery were magnificent. Really enjoyed the bergs again on the way back – they were a highlight.
Another special day in Alaska…