Spring Time In Alaska

This time of year I think of that Johnny Horton song, "When It's Spring Time In Alaska It's 40 Below."  Well it's not 40 below but in some places in Alaska it was 31 degrees F. on May 1st.  Where I live in Southeast Alaska, the weather is mild but our Winters are long and our Springs are welcome.  We are on the flight path for many migratory birds.  From the Sand Hill Cranes, high in the sky to the Arctic Turns on the water, there are birds everywhere this time of year.  This year on May 1st, a combination of wind and currents brought icebergs from the LeConte Glacier right to our door.  The Leconte Glacier is the southernmost tidewater glacier in the Northern Hemisphere.  This glacier is located near Peterburg, Alaska. Petersburg is located here because it was settled by Norwegian fishermen back at the turn of the 20th Century so fishermen could use ice from the Leconte Glacier to keep their fish fresh.  All of the white dots on the water are floating icebergs, coming out of Leconte Bay.

This behemoth floated directly in front of my house.  You have to remember that most of the iceberg is underwater.  What you see on the surface is just a little bit of the entire burg.  This iceberg dwarfed this fishing boat.

My parents taught me to never climb on icebergs because they are so unpredictable.  They can roll or split at anytime.  These guys didn't get that message.  This iceberg does seem safe because it is so large and flat.  

This is the same iceberg in the late evening.  It had lodged on the rocks at the bottom of Fredrick Sound.  As the tide went out, you could see just how large this thing was.  That little top piece was there, and then it was gone.  I turned my head to look at something and looked back and it had fallen into the water.  

This is the iceberg the following morning.  You can see it is very close to the shipping lane.  The water there is pretty deep so you know this iceberg had a lot below the water.

This iceberg floated up to the beach right in front of our house.  It caught on the rocks as the tide was going out and there it stood at low tide.  

The hole in the ice made a sweet little frame for Devils Thumb.  Just beyond Devils Thumb is Canada.  

The following morning, this berg was being covered by the water again.  It looked like the tail of a breaching humpback whale.  These icebergs make a nice little resting place for the seagulls.

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