En mi primer verano en Glacier Bay, quise ir a Reid Glacier (al glaciar Reid) en kayak, ya que era el glaciar más accesible teniendo en cuenta los puntos de desembarque del barco de turistas. Sin embargo, aún había que cruzar la bahía, una idea nada grata de intentar en mi primer verano. Conseguí llegar en mi segundo verano, dos veces; pero nunca olvidaré la primera vez, al darme cuenta de cuán inmenso es el glaciar. Llevé conmigo a un amigo sin experiencia, al que le permití que fuera a explorara el glaciar mientras yo aseguraba el kayak en la orilla. Nunca olvidaré cómo su figura se hizo cada vez más pequeña conforme caminaba hacia el gigante helado, hasta que era tan pequeña que se me hizo difícil distinguirla.

In my first summer in Glacier Bay, I wanted to kayak to Reid Glacier, as it was the most accessible tidewater glacier given the day boat’s drop-off points. However, it still required kayakers to cross the bay, which was something that I was not comfortable attempting in my first summer. My second summer I managed to get there, twice, but I will never forget the first time, realizing just how massive the glacier was. I had brought along an inexperienced friend on this kayaking trip, so I let him go and explore the glacier while I dealt with making sure the kayak was secured on shore. I’ll never forget watching him walk towards it as his figure got smaller and smaller in comparison to the glacier, until he was so small that I had a difficult time even seeing him. Photographer: Tom Bergman