10: Glacier Hike

The weather at Palmer is constantly changing from sunshine to snow to high winds back to clouds and then back to a little bit more snow and then bright and clear sunshine, all in one day! Often times the clouds seem like they are piling up on top of each over, lingering over the harbor and the nearby islands. It truly takes my breath away on the daily.

It was the perfect day for a hike, and I really wanted to see this brooding dynamic weather from up on the glacier.

Saw some of my colleagues out on a walk. They look so cute and tiny out there.

And then I found thee view that I was looking for! 😳 Would you just look at that.

It's up toward the top of the glacier, but this time instead of going all the way across and back down the other side to Point 8, I took a right near the top to go over toward Bonaparte Point instead.

SOUND UP for some Glacier Hike ASMR including me, incredulous, cursing at the beauty of it all...

SOUND UP if you wanna hear some classic Palmer Station radio traffic...

WE GOT TWO ON TORGY!

I was on my way back up and over the glacier, toward Palmer, toward the backyard, and then I heard a big boom from the glacier on the other side of Arthur Harbor! 💥 I looked over just as a massive chunk of the glacier face crumbled into the sea! I made my way, briskly, across the top of the glacier, a b-line straight over to the harbor, and I caught the aftermath... ripples!

If you look closely at the snow on the middle right of this next shot, you'll see Jen and Charlotte on their way back from a hike. They were down near sea level, but at one point we noticed each other from afar and waved. We both caught the tail end of the last big calving.

Stunningly gorgeous, so I decided to sit down for a while and take it all in. The sun was absolutely blasting the leading edge of the glacier, and I saw probably half a dozen calving events: a couple of little crumbles and a few bigger break-offs. The glacial beast is constantly snap-crackle-popping, most of it internally without any visible changes. At one point I got really close to capturing one of the crumbles on video. Wait for it...

I am obsessed with the glacial patterns like these 🤤

The sun kept slowly setting...

It was getting a bit chilly, so I started to make my way back to station.

I came down the main road toward the back side of the Carp Shop and my jaw dropped.

I picked a good night for a hike! YOWZA!