Tag Archives: glacier

God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Knowledge

This photo was taken on the Root Glacier in Wrangell-St Elias NP. The surface of a glacier was not at all like I expected. It is covered with these large “waves”. If you zoom on the center of the photo, you can also see a small stream and pool of water.

Why did I think I knew anything about glaciers? Sure, I had seen pictures of glaciers and even talked to people who had been on them. I knew a little about crevasses and that I wanted to avoid them. I had never heard of a moulin which is a giant hole in the glacier that carries water from the surface all the way to the underside of the glacier.

Whatever we know, it is even more important to recognize what we don’t know.

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God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

First Time

There are a lot of glaciers in Alaska. It is estimated that there are about 100,000 glaciers in Alaska (616 officially named per the NPS website). This is Matanuska Glacier which we passed driving from Wrangell-St Elias NP to Anchorage. It boggles my mind that you can be driving down the highway and just look out and see a glacier. I wonder if it becomes “commonplace” for those who live here. Something taken for granted.

We are instructed to become like children. Part of that is to see things as if for the first time.

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God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Change

This is a photo of Root Glacier joining with Kennicott Glacier (in Wrangell-St Elias National Park). This was the view from our flight from Chitina to McCarthy. Specifically, you see the terminal moraines of these glaciers. It may look like just dirt, but it is actually a mixture of dirt and ice many feet thick.

It boggles my mind to think how glaciers have formed the valleys at places like Yosemite and all over Alaska. Great change often happens at such a slow pace that we barely notice it.

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God in all things, Photography, Prayer, Scenery, Travel

Proper Perspective

Aialik Glacier

It was an odd experience approaching this glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. You could hear all of this ice banging off of the bottom of the ship. We were fairly far from the glacier, so these were relatively small pieces of ice. We could see large chunks of ice breaking off the glacier and were told that they were the size of a bus!

It was hard to keep a perspective on sizes and distances in Alaska. The same thing happens in our lives: things “close” to us seem much larger (more important). How to keep things in proper perspective? Reflection. Humility. Prayer.

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God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Receiving a Photo

Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords NP

I read a reflection this week from the Center for Action and Contemplation. It was taken from “Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice” by Christine Valters Paintner. She talks about our use of the word “take” to describe photography. She proposes that what we are actually doing is receiving the gifts around us. We need to be open to receiving a photographic moment when it arrives.

“We can create conditions for a ‘good’ photo, but ultimately we must stand in a posture of receiving and see what actually shows up in the image.”

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