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Vanishing Lake

Some time in mid-May, 2017, a couple of MICA Guides had ventured out a few miles on the Matanuska Glacier and spotted this immense blue lake with a shoreline that required almost 2 miles walking to circumnavigate. I almost couldn’t believe what they were telling me, so I went to see for myself. I was unsure of exactly where it was, and had little time before I had to spend that day so I travelled light and made the mistake of leaving my DSLR behind. When I found the lake I couldn’t believe my eyes. How could water even be that deep of blue? It was unreal. I snapped some photos with my smart phone, knowing I’d be back the next day when I could more time exploring the beautiful lake. When I walked back to what I thought was the same area the next day, though, the lake was nowhere to be found. I walked around a while, convinced I had lost my way and was in the wrong place. It was obvious by looking at the huge walls of ice, however, that they had recently been underwater, and that the lake had in fact disappeared overnight! In its place was a small river draining into a massive moulin that had sucked the lake down into the glacier itself. - This is actually a fairly common event on large glaciers and ice sheets, when a moulin freezes up in the winter, the spring melt has nowhere to go until the tunnels open back up, and the water will force its way through often all at once. Samsung Galaxy S7 – 4.2mm (Equivalent to 26mm DSLR) at f/1.7 and ISO 50 for 1/8000s

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DC_20170621_008 "Evening Light on a Dark Day"

In 2017, the summer solstice saw a gloomy overcast of low clouds and dull light in the Matanuska Valley. Finally, around 10pm, the clouds broke just enough to spill a narrow band of late evening sunlight across the glacier’s parking lot, slowly moving toward the ice waiting in the darkness beyond. I hurried to retrieve my camera and completely guessed at what settings I might need, raising the camera to my eye just in time to snap this photo, with only seconds before the clouds had moved on and again brought darkness to the glacier. The low-key exposure and heavy contrast brings an abnormally moody feel to the Matanuska.

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DC_20170630_026 "Matanuska Sweet Pea"

Every spring, just beyond the toe of the Matanuska Glacier, fields of green turn to pink as the Alaska Sweet Pea plants begin to bloom. One of few plants in the moraine (unsorted rocks and dirt ground up and deposited by the glacier) closest to the ice, the Sweet Pea are able to thrive in low nutrient dirt, and are typically the first to grow in the harsh conditions. The Sweet Pea plays a vital roll in preparing new soil to sustain larger plants later on, and without pioneer plants like these, the ground up rock could take centuries to begin supporting life. Beyond the bright pink flowers, the icefall of the glacier can be seen above the headwaters of the Matanuska River. Crevasses break the ice into seracs as it flows over a drop in the bedrock to create a dramatic end to the 26 mile long glacier. Canon 7D and 24-105mm f/4L lens at 105mm and f/20 for 1/50sec, ISO 200

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Paddling to the Beloit Glacier (Blackstone Bay, Alaska)

Kailey stops to soak in the view of Beloit Glacier in Blackstone Bay. We made it to the glacier after two full days kayaking on a 3-day Exposure Alaska tour with Kailey as our guide. We sit in our boats, floating among many small icebergs drifting around the bay and hoping to catch a glimpse of a large calving event from a safe distance. Though we see no large breaks that day, many smaller chunks of ice fall from the glacier into the ocean in front of us. To catch the full story from our adventure, check out www.cryophotos.com/2017beloit.

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