September: Spencer Glacier
When we were almost there, we were handed rubber boots which we put on. We got off the train at Spencer Lake and had lunch. Then we boarded "self bailing" rafts to float out on Spencer Lake. I don't know why they call them self-bailing. All I know is that the bottom of the raft was filled with freezing water. There was someone to row the raft around the lake so we could get up close to some of the floating pieces of ice and the face of the glacier where it meets the lake.
Nikonians in Raft on Spencer Glacier Lake
After a 4 hour train ride to the lake (which can only be accessed by train) we were given rubber boots and life vests, then put in these rafts to be rowed out among the icebergs and up to the face of the glacier.
The blue is all-natural. It is created for the same reason that water is blue, that is, its slight absorption of red light due to an overtone of the infrared OH stretching mode of the water molecule.
The blue is all-natural. It is created for the same reason that water is blue, that is, its slight absorption of red light due to an overtone of the infrared OH stretching mode of the water molecule.
The rafts were "self bailing". I don't know exactly what that means except that there were several inches of 34 degree water around our feet. Brrrrr.
Alaska Railroad Train, Eric Bowles
This was a self powered car that just runs this route into the Chugach National Forest. The train is the only way to get into these areas. There are no roads.