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  • Arriving Seward

    Arrival on Saturday, October 8th, 2006 at Seward, and the rain was relentless. By Sunday everything to the side of this road was flooded and the road itself was closed.

  • Captain Paul

    Captain Paul starred in his own show aboard our boat.  He explained that he comes to Seward every summer for work driving these boats out of Seward.

  • A three hour tour from Seward

    A view from the front deck of our boat The Viewfinder, outward bound on the Seward Alaska Marine Highway.  Rain was relentless but I refused to let it spoil the adventure.

  • More boat

    A view from the deck of this hardy boat. These things have to be built tough to withstand the waters and the weather here. Captain Paul explained they have never yet lost a passenger, but if you do fall in please keep your boarding pass handy for rescue.

  • Across the bay from Seward

    A small settlement nestled between the bay and the mountains across from Seward, taken from the boat.

  • Mountains and mist

    The rain never stopped while I was on the boat tour, but made for nice gray contrasts with mountains, forest, and sky.

  • Huts for rent

    These canvas huts could be your headquarters to a close encounter with a large amount of wilderness and weather.  Taken from the boat tour from Seward, Alaska.

  • Rough water

    After about 2 hours the water began getting rough, with rolling waves hitting the boat pretty hard. Captain Paul rode us through a bit of this before deciding it wasn’t smart to continue.

  • Rock hazard

    This is the kind of rock you do not want to get smashed into.

  • Returning to Seward

    To the relief of some passengers, the water became calm as we returned to the dock in Seward.

  • Exit Glacier view 1

    Exit Glacier just outside of Seward, Alaska offers an easy hike right up to the edge of the ice.

  • Approaching Exit Glacier

    An easy trail leads to very close views of Exit Glacier.

  • Closer view of Exit Glacier

    Exit Glacier has remained here for many thousands of years.

  • Side view of Exit Glacier’s terminus

    Although Exit Glacier has been known to many generations of humans, ours may be the last ever to see it.

  • The tip of Exit Glacier as it melts

    Although the constant rain that day was having some effect on the amount of water on the ground, most of this is caused by the rapid melting of Exit Glacier.

  • A closer view of the tip of Exit Glacier

    This is literally the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Exit Glacier is melting at an increasing rate, and receding rapidly from this spot. The cause is widely considered to be increasing average temperatures due to human-induced climate change.

  • Water from the glacier melt

    This channel was carved by water exiting Exit Glacier as it melts.

  • A torrent of water from the glacier

    Take one large glacier, add atmospheric heat, and the result is a large amount of water pouring off the glacier.

  • Streams from the glacier

    Exit Glacier is melting so fast it’s creating several large streams.

  • Streams from the glacier become rivers

    Streams of water from parts of Exit Glacier converge to become a river.

  • Land eroded by streams flowing from Exit Glacier

    The melt from Exit Glacier has created a large area that can only be described as a floodplain.

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