VN #058: Bridge River Glacier ~ Part II
Posted January 12, 2025
Bridge River Glacier ~ Part II
Continued from VN #057
After the early morning shoot described in VN # 057, I returned to camp and shared a welcomed coffee and breakfast with Rita.
10:24 am
After breakfast, Rita and I left camp to hike along the south lateral moraine, high above the lake of icebergs. It was a powerful overview and reminder of what is happening globally.
We were quietly sitting on a boulder, enjoying the day, and chatting about the flatness of the bergs and how stable they seemed. We thought they might be grounded on the lake bottom. We even joked about how one could possibly go iceberg hopping when suddenly, the silence of the entire valley was broken with a thunderous cracking sound from the ice below us. We jumped up to witness a rare and truly significant climatic event.
10:56 am
An iceberg had lost its centre of gravity and was beginning to roll over. It sank and then rose, repeatedly, sending out tidal surges each time, which initiated chain reactions of instability.
10:57 am
I kept photographing.
11:01 am
Like breaching whales, chunks of ice rose up from nowhere, then disappeared, then rose again. Each time they bobbed back up they sent out another tsunami, which activated more instability. Dozens of bergs were on the move.
11:07 am
There is no shade of blue like that of the solid ice that was once below the surface of the water. Once it is exposed to air, the colour begins to disappear, returning to its crystalized white.
11:14 am
As the lake settled down, Rita and I just stood there in disbelief at what we had just witnessed. It was an extraordinary event; 50 minutes of turbulence from what seemed so solid and immovable. In fact, it was fragile and precarious.
In the narratives to follow, I will share more visual adventures as we explore the Bridge River Glacier and its surroundings.
All of us at Chris Harris Photography thank you for your subscriber support!
Check out my Portfolio’s
Visit Exhibitions
Subscribe to my Newsletters
Subscribe to Visual Narratives