Gliding on Glaciers... A Life Experience!!!

June 24 - Haines

We made it!!! A smooth landing.

On our second day in Haines, when Roland suggested we book a private plane tour of the glaciers, I thought how cool. When he told me the plane also could land on the glaciers, my heartbeat doubled!  

Adding to my trepidation, the day we were scheduled to fly, Haines was experiencing a record heat wave –80 degrees and sunny. After standing for thousands of years, common sense says one day of heat won’t destabilize a glacier ... but then common sense doesn’t always prevail when you are gliding next to ice covered mountain peaks thousands of feet high ... looking for a spot to land.

 Awe-inspiring beauty quickly conquered fear ... along with our competent pilot Drake, who confessed he used to race Formula One cars before moving to Alaska.

Roland and Drake on Davidson Glacier.

Alaska has 100,000 glaciers (only 600 are named) and 30,000 square miles of glacier ice, about 5% of the entire state. Viewing glaciers by air provides an incomparable perspective of their size, and we gained a new appreciation for the miles of ice that you never see from water level on Engelenbak.

Similarly, landing on a glacier provides an all-together different view. You can’t get more up close and personal!

Since the entire surface is white, there is no real sense of depth and you can’t tell you’re landing until the moment you hit the snow. You’ll see in our photos, the plane literally is on skis when it lands. Pilot Drake decided to put us down on Davidson Glacier. As we landed, I couldn’t help wondering how he would keep the plane from skiing over the cliff that seemed dangerously close in front of us. But as soon as we hit the ground he put on the brakes and glided the plane in a curve to the left before skidding to a stop. Whew!!!

It was overwhelming to climb out of the plane and experience the absolute dead silence surrounding us on that glacier. I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced such an unspoiled, pristine environment. Just Roland, Drake, the plane and me, in a vista of snow, ice and granite covered peaks stretching for miles ... truly God’s beauty.

Roland and Pilot Drake behind the controls.

Taking off was another adrenaline rush. Once in the air heading west, our pilot had the perfect Van Morrison song piping through our headphones as we crossed over the east arm of Glacier Bay. Looking down above massive ribbons of glaciers snaking around mountains down into Caribbean blue-colored waters, we felt truly blessed. 

Overlooking Riggs Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park.