Friday, November 30, 2012

Feeling a little peaked

Truly, viewing the glaciers in Alaska was a peak experience.


There were a few ice-sculptures on board the cruise ship, but nothing of this magnitude!




The ice forms look like giant gems.



Even though they're stunning in their natural beauty,
I couldn't resist "enhancing" them a little in Photoshop for emphasis.



It's fascinating that the ice exists right next to a patch of green still lingering on the lower mountain slope.



This bottom layers of the glacier, with their reflection in the calm water below,
suggest the stylized eye of a killer whale, such as seen in Native carvings.



Pulling away for a wider view, we see that the form really does resemble an Orca...
or is it just me who thinks this?


It was a rare privilege to have seen this amazing natural phenomenon.



An experience I will always cherish.




26 comments:

  1. Oh wow - these photos and scenery are priceless gems indeed! And I see the Orca! Double wow... Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful pristine beauty.

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    1. Mystic,
      It's been my absolute pleasure to be able to share these "visions." Thank you for your enthusiastic support of my efforts. To tell the truth, while I was taking the photos of the glaciers I was really looking forward to sharing them on my blog.

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  2. Amazing shots--and we feel the stillness. Was there any sound out there (creaking ice, for instance)? Or did you hear only the oohs and aaahs of your boat people?

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    1. Jann,
      It was amazingly still. Even the deck where I was was quiet. The ice was not singing or creaking but at one point we did hear the thunder of a piece "calving" (falling off). It made a loud sort of gunshot sound. We'd been told we might hear that, and it was like a big "helloooo!" from the glacier when we did.

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  3. They certainly are an amazing piece of nature's art. So beautiful!!!

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    1. Danielle,
      Yes, I was dazzled by their cold beauty. Colours like I'd never seen before.

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  4. You have a great eye.. a whale emerges.. almost like an optical illusion!

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    1. Gwen,
      I was really struck by the likeness of the ice formation to that of a whale emerging from the depths and taking us in with her great eye. Perhaps inspired by a view of whales in the distance earlier on in the cruise.

      The glacier was watching us watching it.

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  5. From the absence
    of light
    of warmth
    slowly moving
    through the channel
    to the opening
    to be born into water
    bearing the traces
    of eons past

    Are we watching
    a new birth
    or a memory
    of a birth long ago?
    _________________________

    The image of Orca is truly wonderful.

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    1. DCW,
      Into the mystery, the dark depths of eons past, towards the light of futures unknown, briefly glimpsed in this timeless moment.

      I have no idea if anyone else on the cruise saw the Orca in the ice form, but I'm so pleased that my vision has been confirmed here on my blog.

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  6. yes, i was taken away with the green in the other series too... it seems a magic journey to me, a return to some deep and pure place inside oneself, away from all the "muddle" which makes up life... (no matter how fascinating that "muddle" is, one wishes to transcend it from time to time, or? :-)

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    1. Roxana,
      Perhaps those small unexpected details of life burgeoning silently in the background hold the secret of this existence; the mystery of how to survive happily in this world.

      Un-muddled purity, yes...like nowhere else except, perhaps, as you suggest, within the all-knowing silence of our very core. But that's a cruise of a different nature!

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  7. Absolutely stunning. Yes I do indeed see the Orca shape in the ice. I knew you weren't just spouting off. ;)

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    1. Hilary,
      You leave me whaling with laughter!

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  8. How very impressive and environment. Thank you for this escape. Please have you all a good new month ahead.

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    1. Robert,
      I am so glad you are able to get away for a little breath of bracing Alaskan air and a mini-escape. I hope this last month of what is now an old year will be kind to you.

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  9. Really amazing and beautiful,and thanks for sharing your journey and images. I feel as though I've almost been there.......glad I missed out on the cold though!

    Ruby

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    1. Ruby,
      I'm very happy to have appreciative souls, such as yourself, to share these images with. I think you could have handled the cold, being from Scotland!
      ;-)

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  10. Awesome... simply and totally awesome. You have approached the primordial... looked it in the eye, and returned to tell the tale. We are fortunate to have your eyes to bring us back visions we might otherwise never have glimpsed.

    It looks a cold place though, I see no trace of toads hopping from one giant block of ice to another ?

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    1. Owen,
      Oh yes, it was a whale of a tale to recount.

      I think the lack of toads is due to the slippery surface of the ice. I didn't see any kiosks selling toadsicles, so I guess the little hoppers migrated to warmer climes, such as France.

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  11. Wonderful, thank you for sharing ,it's hard to guess the scale, to know how tall the ice is, I wonder,,,

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    1. Michael,
      I'm really pleased to have this venue to share the sights I took in on my Alaska trip and happy to hear that they're appreciated. The scale, even when standing there on the deck of the boat looking across the water at these magnificent formations, is impossible to comprehend. It was described in feet/miles but went in one ear and out the other, as numbers tend to do with me.

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  12. I bet those "ice gems" are immense. Great pictures.

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    1. Gillian,
      You're so right, though as I said to Michael in the previous comment, it was pretty impossible to get a real idea of the scale of the ice formations, set against the immensity of the mountains. We were at some distance from them and yet they seemed near. Still, not a gem that one could keep in a wall safe.

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  13. Oh fabulous, just love it!! That place is on my bucket list...

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    1. Saj,
      I just hope that bucket has enough room for a few bottles of champagne as well!

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