Exploring Outer Columbia Glacier Bays by Kayak

I love kayaking here in Alaska, and especially when we can kayak around ice. This day was especially good, with glassy calm conditions and a never-ending floating ice garden to explore.

Discovering a new place to take our guests for adventures is always a good feeling. It is so nice having the flexibility as expedition leader, to search out these places and add them to future trips. Last week, we were iced out of our visit to Columbia Glacier, here in Prince William Sound, Alaska. So we instead went to a bay adjacent to Columbia fjord, in hopes that some of that ice would be there for us to walk around and paddle around. It was super low tide, so tons of big icebergs were trapped on the rocky shore, separating the bay from the fjord. I was excited to take people back, although this time I was prepare to explore by kayak.

Only four people chose to come with me, but after this wild adventure, they all thought they chose correctly. We ended up paddling over 6 miles, way up a beautiful river, past loons and long tailed ducks, then going through a little cut out into the ice filled fjord, being surrounded by giant chunks of blue ice, before getting out on the rocky shoreline and walking amongst the ice garden, before making it back to the boat...soaking wet, pretty cold, but incredibly fulfilled.

Something has occurred over the winter with Columbia glacier, known already for its massive retreat over the last few decades, where it has dumped an immeasurable amount of ice into the fjord. Heather Bay, located adjacent to the fjord, and actually connected to it at high tide, was my plan A this week, after seeing how impossible navigating the ice to the actual glacier was last week. I was a little disappointed when we pulled into Heather Bay this time, and saw that the ice garden (all of the icebergs left stranded on the shoreline by the receding tide), only contained car sized chunks, instead of house sized chunks like last week. At high tide, all of this ice is picked up and moved around due to whatever winds and currents exist. So we never know what we will find.

However, this time I was set to explore by kayak. I set off with a small group on what turned out to be the adventure of the cruise. Check out the photos and I hope you enjoy following along with this amazing adventure in Heather Bay.

Heading into the uncharted and unexplored reaches of Prince William Sound, Alaska on my trusty kayak. I've got a few adventurous guests at my back, and my new hood ornament in front. I'm ready to explore.

Ice, trapped on the shoreline by the receding tide, gives me a natural frame for the kayak behind me.

Paddling up a river to see how far we can get. A loon was calling, just after we entered the river. It is one of the most haunting sounds in nature.

This might be as far as we make it up the river.

Time for a little leg stretcher. This is why we wear rubber boots, even while kayaking, here in Alaska.

Head back out, we are afloat again.

As we paddled closer to the edge of the bay that is shared with Columbia fjord, the ice started to get denser.

and denser.

Then we found out where the ice was all coming from. We paddled through a narrow opening into the ice filled fjord. Suddenly we were paddling through a floating, shifting, ice garden. All of this came from the face of Columbia Glacier....about 13 miles away.

Exploring an ice garden by kayak, in Prince William Sound.

The water was flat calm here, so perfect for kayaking. We glided among the blue glacial ice, trapped near the side of the fjord.

The icebergs formed so many different shapes, and shades of blue. It really was like paddling through a natural ice sculpture garden.

This gull looked pretty comfortable on top of his icy perch.

We got out again, near this ice garden, to get a view of all the icebergs trapped on land during the low tide.

It was like a photographers dream out here!

Ice in the foreground, with misty mountains in the back, then a splash of color from my kayak. Alaska is so photogenic.

Liking the last picture so much, I recreated it with all of our kayaks.

Marcella, soaking wet but happy to have come out on this adventure.

After helping the rest of the group get off the rocks and back into their kayaks, I took one last look to remember this by.

Two red throated loons, a new species for me, take off from the water on our paddle back. We also had long tailed ducks and arctic terns today. The bird life here was great!

As always, keep adventuring and sharing. Thanks for giving us this platform PeakD!
-Dai Mar