More excitement than was strictly necessary

Saturday contained an adventure that kind of got out of hand - but more about that later.

Our adventure started with a drive to Seward to go to the Sea Life Center, which was pretty good. It is a smallish aquarium, as these things go, but it does its job very well. They focus on the sea life of the Bering Sea and the Kenai peninsula - salmon and harbor seals and so on. It was pretty interesting, and had a lot of good informative displays - a series of aquariums showing what plants and animals were living at the various depths of the sea and that sort of thing. The stars of the show are what are sometimes referred to as the charismatic megafauna - the sea lions and harbor seals - and the seabirds, such as puffins. One of the main missions of the center is rescue and rehabilitation, so there is something of a rotating cast on hand. When we were there, one sea lion and one harbor seal inhabited each of the big indoor/outdoor tanks within the facility itself. There were quite a few harbor seals outdoors in hospital tanks, and you could watch these swimming around as well, but not as closely as the indoor ones. If you are in Seward, or anywhere near it, definitely include the Sea Life center in your plans!

On our way home, we stopped at Exit Glacier. Here is where things got interesting. Art had heard from people at work that you could walk up to this glacier and touch it, but that we would have to cross a few streams. It's a little cold, they said, but no big deal. So we set out to see the glacier. I should explain that I had my purse with me, which I realized later was pretty stupid, but I never trust to leave it in the car. Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day, and the walk was pretty nice. It ranged between nice smooth trails to steeper climbs up steep, jagged slopes. We kept trying to get to the Toe of the Glacier, which is where you can touch it. At the Edge of the Glacier point, you can look at it, but there is a heavily posted rope fence, a ranger, and a ravine between you and the glacier, so there is no getting into contact at that point. So, back to the paths leading to the Toe of the Glacier. At every point, we were confronted with some pretty deep, swiftly moving, COLD streams between us and the point we were going for. Then a couple came back across the water and rocks. They were wet about halfway up their legs, but pretty psyched about making it to the glacier and back. That decided it - we set off. The first step in the water was pretty cold, but you get numb really fast. We made it across 3 streams OK, we were wet about halfway up our legs and with the cold wind coming off the glacier it was pretty chilly but bearable. Then we got to the last stream. It was deeper and faster than the others, but we couldn't see any other way that was obviously any better. Art crossed first and got wet up to his waist, then slipped and got about half his torso wet before he got to the other side. He told me to wait while he went to see if there were any other streams to cross, and also if this was going to be worth it. He disappeared around an outcropping of rock, and I walked back and forth on my side of the stream, trying to see if any point was clearly safer than any other. It all looked about the same, so I decided to go ahead and set off. I made it about 3/4 of the way across, and then I went down. The current pulled me down and under and rolled me few yards down the stream, bouncing me off a few rocks on the way. I managed to surface and pull my way onto shore. Now I was extremely cold, totally soaked, hurt, and felt stupid besides - which I assuredly was. I was gasping for breath as I tried to wring water out of my jacket and tip the gallon or so of water out of my purse. The purse my cell phone and mp3 player were in. (I know! But it was supposed to be an easy walk over some streams! No big deal!) I checked for injuries - a bunch of places hurt, but there was no obvious blood and I hadn't hit my head and all my limbs and fingers and toes worked, so I decided to go on to the damn glacier. Art met me about halfway and immediately began expressing sympathy, probably because I was still gasping and was dripping and shivering. Did I mention glacier water is cold? Because it is. But anyway, we got to the glacier, and it was pretty cool. Literally and figuratively. Basically, the first impression is - dirty ice. Which it is, but it's important to remember it's primordial dirty ice. That dirt was frozen in that ice in the time of the dinosaurs! Or something like that. [Art's Commentary; on closer inspection of the glacial ice, I would describe it as fist-sized ice cubes packed together by the millions. They were so closely compacted that some had shattered like glass. I thought; "if they would hose this thing off and clean it up, it would be spectacular"]

So anyway, we went and touched the glacier - quite a bit actually, because I really needed to get full value out of this little adventure. Just when we were realizing it was about time to go, and that we were going to have to go through all of that again, which I was not looking forward to, a guy hove into view between two boulders. He was dry! He had found a path between two ravines, he said, and would be glad to guide us out. He even took our picture by the glacier, and I am sorry I did not have the presence of mind to ask if he would like us to take his. However, he had already been looking around, he said, and was ready to lead us out. He guided us out a path we never would have found, which we were probably not supposed to be on in the first place, but we did not care at that point, as it saved us from going through the water again. If ever I have received help directly and personally from God, it was that guy. He got us back onto a path and then took off. We needed to stop for a bit, because we were learning something else about glacier melt. It has lots of silt and little rocks in it, and where the water goes, those particles go. I had little rocks in my shoes, in my hair, in my bra, in my pants pockets... Just then I had a bunch in my shoes that need to be shaken out, so I stopped and did that. I shook out a bunch more from everywhere else when we got home, and am saving them in my scrapbook. :) We sogged out to our car, turned the heater on full blast, and shivered our way home. Only an hour or so later, I was able to laugh about it - if somewhat feebly and through chattering teeth. On the plus side, we got to touch the glacier! Last night, as I catalogued my extensive new collection of big purple bruises and wondered if our cell phones and my mp3 player were dead, I wasn't sure the benefit outweighed the costs. However, this morning, as our electronics were only a little worse for wear, and I am not nearly as banged up or dead as I could have been, it all seems to balance out. (Hint - for those of you goofy enough to do something like this - don't. If you do though, dry out your devices thoroughly before turning them back on. I don't guarantee it will work, but you have a better shot.) Now, let me stop and assure you, gentle reader, that I am fully aware of how wrong all of this could have gone, and how dumb we were to have gone into this so very unprepared.

So what have I learned? Several things. First, the Sea Life center is a good cause and a good time all rolled in to one, and deserves all the support it can muster. Second, glaciers are very dirty, so you should think about that before purchasing bottled water advertising its "glacial purity". Third, when people 15-20 years younger than you and in much, much better shape, who moreover are properly equipped for the adventure at hand say something is "a little tough, but definitely doable" you should understand that that means for them. That means, come back next season after you have worked out a little and obtained proper equipment. Or maybe just watch a show about it on the Discovery channel. Message received, lesson learned. On the plus side, though, we got to touch the glacier!