Geoffrey's Consulting Practices:
Alaska
June 12 through June 25, 2001
We enjoyed a fantastic 12-day long odyssey in Alaska with some of our friends. Following a short (only two days) car camp in Denali National Park, we headed for Prince William Sound for 9 days of wilderness sea kayaking with our small group of 6 good friends. Our trip departed out of Whittier, from which a power boat delivered us, our rented double kayaks and gear to a remote beach some 50 miles away in College Fjord. Our paddling took us from one end of College Fjord to the other, and then into Harriman Fjord via Barry Arm, for a grand tour of that fabulous glacier-carved inlet, discovered by John Muir while on the Harriman Expedition of 1899!
Here are some of the over 350 digital photos that I took with my Nikon Coolpix 950. I am in the process of preparing a multi-media PowerPoint presentation, which I hope to show to friends soon!:
We took the park shuttle boat 90 miles from our camp at Savage
River all the way in to Wonder Lake. The views of terrain and wildlife
were extraordinary! The fact that Denali itself was enshrouded in cloud
cover did nothing to take away from the pristine grandeur of Denali National
Park. (photos coming!) In the week that our group was in the park,
clear views of Denali Summit were had on only the first and last days. We
had this view as we headed south back to Anchorage to provision for our kayak
trip: 
(Click on the thumbnail images for a larger image.)
Kayaking in Prince William Sound was spectacular! Here are some representative photographs to help you grasp the sense of beauty, space, and solitude that we experienced:
Here's a map of where we went. We started in College Fjord at the upper
right, and finished in Harriman Fjord in upper left.
Departing Whittier -- boats and gear securely stowed!
First night, and view of our goal for tomorrow: Harvard Glacier. (That's
Bryn Mawr, Smith, and Baltimore Glacier there on the left.)
We are not alone! That's black bear (no grizzlies in this area). We
keep our food 100' from our tents, secured in our boat dry storage compartments.
"Did anyone see a glacier around here somewhere?" That's Linda
and son Thomas Oretsky, with Yale Glacier overshadowing.
Leaders Laura Lee and Grant Hughes charting the course through frigid waters
(those are genuine Ice Bergs there).
Kayaker tonic for the evening!
Captain of our ship, navigator, and chief Ice Berg spotter: Camille
Armstrong! This 10 minute down-pour was the only rain of our 9 day
trip. Lucky us!
Daily ritual: hauling of kayaks from water line to WAY ABOVE high tide line for
safe storage for the night. And THEN we tied them just to be safe. Nothing worse
that awaking to find your ride home adrift on the frigid waters --
untended. We experienced daily fluctuations of -9 to +14.5 -- and that's
vertical. Some of our carries were hundreds of feet in the horizontal.
Rudder man Geoffrey heading away from Surprise Glacier in Harriman. Mount
Muir on the right.
Seasonal high tide of over 14', lapping at our tent doors at 3:30 am. The
land of the Midnight Sun! The tree snags you see were killed in the 1964
earthquake when the ground sank, thereby raising the salt water table all around
the shoreline.
Couple of happy campers, with Mt. Curtis in the background, and glimpse of
Cascade Glacier on the left.
Go to Alaska -- and don't take a cruise ship! You will not regret the experience!