Alaska | Giselle Roeder

Alaska 1982

My first trip to Alaska was in 1982. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of this State, the mountainous terrain and especially the glaciers, their pristine ‘white’ and as the sun hit the ice was very blue, like a summer sky. I marvelled at the apparent flowing of ice into a colorful meadow with thousands of wildflowers. You could walk to the edge of it. Cruising to the Columbia Glacier Bay we had to wait for hours to see any ‘calving’ – the breaking off of shanks of ice and plunging into the sea. Seals with their round black shining eyes and seabirds were waiting on ice floats for a passing fish and elegantly diving in or sliding off to catch their meal. What impressed me most was the incredible stillness and on and off the cracking in the glaciers sometimes evolving in a roar when a large piece just slid off and, causing a huge fountain of water, disappeared. Our cruise ship crew would lower a life boat and try to bring up some big pieces of ice. Some of the crew were masters in creating fantastic carvings which would grace the midnight buffet tables. We were treated with the smaller pieces in special drinks and if you would let the ice melt or take it into your mouth it tasted good. We were even allowed to keep the tall fancy glasses as souvenirs.

Alaska 2006

I have been back to Alaska during the years since on eleven other cruises up to 2012. Each time I would try to see the same sights I had seen during my first visit. The flowing ice river into the meadow had retreated each time and by now has disappeared altogether. The glaciers look ‘dirty’ – no more the pristine white color. The calving happens every few minutes and no life boat is lowered anymore to pick up ice floats for carvings or drinks. Maybe the laws have changed? I noticed that the wildlife has disappeared as well. The Mendenhall Glacier close to Juneau, the capital of Alaska, has retreated quite a long way, – it seems to be lower as well. I wonder if the water level has gone up with all this melting ice. What about the sea life, like whales, fish and other creatures, is their living environment changing? You betcha! The water is warming up as well and is not livable for certain other species.

Climate change? Environmentalists and naturalists have been talking about it and warning us for years, but incredibly, a lot of leading politicians do not believe in it. The other day I heard a fabulous group of singers perform a song with the line “He doesn’t believe in climate change because it’s not on the stock exchange” – making fun of a certain political leader.

Mendenhall Glacier Alasca

What about the floods we have been experiencing? What about the hundreds of fires caused by lightning or stupid peoples’ behaviour (cigarette butts & camping fires) burning down unbelievably huge numbers of square miles of forest in Canada and valuable land in California repeatedly, year after year? What about the appearance of bears and cougars in our cities? What about the drought in the wettest part of Canada for instance? No snow during the winter and no rain for four months, but unusual spells of hot weather? Or in other areas so much snow that neighbors had to shovel out neighbors. No grass for animal grazers, storms uprooting huge trees taking boulevards and lawns with them like carpets, damaging cars, houses and killing if someone is at the wrong spot at the wrong time. Hail the size of golf balls and even larger causing billions of dollars in damage. Is all this due to bad weather? Is Mother Nature punishing us? Or do we face a serious case of climate change? Do we have to start thinking of building a copy of ‘Noah’s Arc’ to save the known species?

Alaska 2012

Just some thoughts of mine and I know I’m not the only one having this on my mind. If you haven’t thought along these lines, start thinking. What can we do about it before it is too late? We are able to fly to the moon or to Mars, even land a space probe on a distant comet – but we do not seem to have the political will to save the only planet that should matter to us: Planet Earth!

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Leaving Vancouver bound for Alaska

One of the most beautiful cities in the world is Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It offers everything: Mild winters but high enough mountains for the ski aficionado and situated only about 100 miles from the town of Whistler, the world renowned ski resort. If you like water sports you can hardly ask for a more beautiful setting than Vancouver at the blue Pacific Ocean for any type of boating, sailing, paddling, windsurfing, motor boating, fishing and even swimming for many months of the year. You like ships or bigger boats better? Vancouver has one of the most gorgeous inner harbours and it hosts many cruise ships during the summer months since it is the gateway to the Inside Passage to Alaska. I can hardly imagine what Captain Cook or Captain Vancouver must have thought or felt when they happened upon this hidden gem in the late 18^th century. All along the coastline were old growth forests, wildlife was plentiful and it surely didn’t take long for settlements to appear after it was discovered.

Fishing and saw mills and later the arrival of the railway brought hundreds of new settlers. Many warehouses were built. The story of “Gassy Jack” is interesting, (use your imagination why “gassy”) a Yorkshire man who noticed that there was no saloon available for the many men. He was smart enough to offer to start one. With eager help from all the thirsty men it was built and finished within a few days (some say overnight) and soon women appeared to add to the fun. The area, originally known as Granville was later renamed after “Gassy Jack” and became “Gastown”. Nowhere could you find more drinking establishments than right here. Over the years and as the city of Vancouver grew this area went into decline and the warehouses were falling into disrepair. Squatters, hippies and many artists had taken over. The area with its architecturally interesting old buildings was rescued in the 1970s when Gastown was declared the most historic part of Vancouver. Tourists now flock to Gastown because of its quaint artsy flavour and it surely is one of the most beautiful parts of Vancouver. It has many wonderful and diverse restaurants and “Gassy Jack’s” statue is a popular photo stop.

Glacier calving

River of ice

Here you will also find the beautiful new cruise ship harbour. An unforgettable sight is the castoff of cruise ships and their sailing towards the Lions Gate Bridge, along the rich and very beautiful coastline of West Vancouver, the most expensive real estate and retirement place in Canada. You sail through a dreamland as the ship finds its way through the Salish Sea (formerly Strait of Georgia) with majestic snow cupped mountains turning red with the sunset. Unbelievably lovely views greet you while passing Haida Gwaii, a collection of islands at the most westerly point on the North Coast of British Columbia. Most people are more familiar with these islands originally known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.

I was asked once if I knew how God created certain areas on planet Earth. “Tell me”, I replied and this is how it was explained: The different tribes had to line up and when it was their turn they were asked to give their reasons for what kind of land and how much they wanted. Most of them got what they asked for within reason. The Bavarians where very shy and stayed behind until there was hardly any land left when God noticed them. “You get a beautiful region” God told them, “because you are not pushy and you waited. I kept the best for last” and therefore Bavaria and adjoining Switzerland is so beautiful that many people travel there just to see the landscapes and experience the joyful and friendly people who live there. If you ask me I must say that the British Columbia coastline and a sailing experience from Vancouver to Alaska is an incredible feast for the eyes. God must have had more surprises to hand out because this area is wider, grander and totally unforgettable. Yes, somewhat different because of the Pacific Ocean and it has nothing of the dollhouse prettiness you find in Bavaria or Switzerland. Once,

Inside Passage

coming back from Alaska I was sitting at a large table indoors with a group of about eight or ten Americans. Everybody had admired the glaciers and the calving when large sections of ice break off and crash into the sea. They couldn’t believe the mighty ice rivers and the ice floats with some seals or seabirds on them and as we were floating on the still waters along the shores of the Queen Charlotte Islands one of the gentlemen said, while dreamily watching the ever increasing loveliness of the surroundings:

”I can’t believe how beautiful this all is. Too bad it’s Canada.”