Our second night in Glacier Bay, we anchored in Reid Inlet. This is a unique anchorage because it is at the base of Reid Glacier, the face of which can be explored on foot. Our friends Mike and Angie on S/V Madrone pulled into the anchorage shortly after us. The afternoon winds were already starting to howl off the glacier and none of us wanted to leave our boats yet so we made plans to explore the next day.

The four of us piled into our dinghy promptly at nine a.m. the following morning and headed to shore. We quickly discovered that the shoreline is composed of glacier mud – Angie and I joked about starting a new beauty trend called Glacial Facials. The mud was deep, thick and slick, an entertaining combination when trying to step out of a dinghy and walk to higher ground. Our rubber boots would definitely need to come off before getting back on the sailboats.

For the next couple of hours we explored the glacier and the surrounding area. We hiked alongside the glacier’s edge, peering into the blue ice caves carved by the melting ice. We walked among the boulder-sized ice formations littering the ground where they had fallen from the face. We felt the cold power of the raging river flowing out from underneath the glacier as we stood nearby. Exploring Reid Glacier would’ve been fun anytime, but sharing it with friends made it even better.