Glacier Bay National Park

May 12, 2023 · by Dano · in Alaska

Today we’re at Glacier Bay National Park for a full day of cruising around the 3.3 million (yes, million) acres of glaciers, mountains and wildlife. This national park is part of a 25-million-acre national heritage site that was proclaimed a national monument in 1925 under the Antiquities Act. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter expanded this site to include an additional 523,000 acres! There are 1,045 named glaciers in the park. They are…just kidding.

The bay was carved out by a series of glaciers during the three ice ages. (Yes, there were 3 – 7,000, 5,000 and 500 years ago) Some gold mining occurred back in the early 1900’s with most gold being found between the Lamplugh and Reid glaciers. These mines were “drift mines” which means the gold was extracted through an opening in the side of the mountain instead of panned from a stream or river.

There is limited information about the first inhabitants of this area, after all, it is covered by snow and glaciers making artifacts a bit difficult to find. So, with that said, I think I’ll just show you what we saw…