Homer, Calving Icebergs, Tufted Puffins, and Baleen Whales

If you were patient enough to follow the signals from our GPS yesterday you will see that we had a pretty awesome day! Our signaling tracks are all over a fresh glacier bed and end up meandering around the Pacific just off the Kenai Peninsula.

Thomas hired a water taxi to go cavorting across a glacier bed across the bay. The skipper’s name was Lance. With the GPS signaling device in his backpack, together they took off eight miles across the bay where Thomas was dropped off to go glacier exploring. (Spelunking is cave exploring – what’s the word for glacier exploring?)

I’m concerned that he’s watched too many of these outdoor “man against nature” reality shows. When he reached the lake that was being fed by the glacier, he espied these calved off chunks of ice floating out in the middle of the lake, and decided that if he did not swim out to touch one of them, he would have been guilty of not living his life to the fullest.

He put together this great footage by setting his camera on auto video mode on a stone on the bank, and in nothing but his tighty-whiteys he started wading in. He ending up literally swimming in that ice water! Crazy guy! He was all alone, no cell-phone coverage, no radio, nothing! And the bear mace was in the backpack along with the GPS signaling device. And he’s out their swimming in a glacier lake! Hopefully we can get that video up for you before we’re done with the trip! It is priceless! As a Dad watching it last evening, it gave me the chills in more ways than one.

Anna and I then joined Lance in his water-taxi at 5:00 p.m. as we went back over the bay to pick Thomas up at the toe of the glacier bed to bring him back to Homer. Lance was a great sport, a local guy from Homer who lives in a wrecked, beached boat along the spit. It didn’t take much for the three of us to talk Lance into taking us on a “nature tour” during which we got great video footage of otters, tufted puffins, otters, and best of all baleen whales! They were spouting, sounding, and flipping their huge tails in the air.

As we pulled back into the spit at Homer we got a good look at The Time Bandit, the name of the ship from the Deadliest Catch. It harbors here in the offseason.

Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die. We’ve been able to get there, and keep a pulse while we’re at it. How blessed are we!