A cruise into the west arm of the bay will reveal some of the most imposing ice formations in this collection of 16 tidewater glaciers, but the Muir Glacier–named for Glacier Bay discoverer John Muir–has retreated 60 miles up the Muir Inlet and is slowly melting toward obscurity.
1. Icy Strait
Humpback whales cavort during summer in this strait, just outside the park entrance.
2. Merging glaciers
Melburn and Grand Pacific Glaciers merge at the far end of the bay, some 65 miles from park headquarters, where huge walls of vivid blue ice weakened by melt send “calves” crashing into Tarr Inlet.
3. Johns Hopkins and Lamplugh (cq) Glaciers.
These glaciers present walls of even deeper blue and immense ice caves.
4. Margerie Glacier
Starting high up on Mt. Fairweather, 15,320 feet above sea level, this glacier flows three miles into the bay. The Fairweather/St. Elias range, with several peaks over 10,000 feet, is the highest coastal mountain range in the world.
5. Reid Glacier
This glacier allows one last look at a tidewater glacier before the ship proceeds back home.
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6. South Marble Island.
A typical wildlife scene on Glacier Bay voyages, this one featuring sea lions.