Old timer in Talkeetna warned me about glacier ice fall patterns

I was up near Talkeetna last summer helping a friend with his flightseeing business. This old bush pilot named Hank pointed at a glacier and said never land near the base after 2 PM because the sun loosens things up. I kind of shrugged it off, figured he was being dramatic. Then on August 17th around 2:30, I watched a chunk the size of a school bus peel off that exact glacier. It hit the moraine and sent debris flying across the whole valley floor. Has anyone else had an experienced local call something that seemed too cautious but turned out to be dead on?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin4891d ago

Took the same kind of advice from an old guide in Glacier Bay who told me never to anchor near a certain ice face after 11 AM. I thought he was just being overly careful until I saw a calving event that sent waves crashing over a beach I had been standing on an hour earlier. Now I treat those local warnings like gospel, especially the ones about timing and the sun. Their experience is worth way more than my guesswork.

the_william1d ago

Wait, you actually saw it happen? That's wild. I gotta admit, I used to be the guy who'd nod along to those local warnings but secretly think "ok boomer, the glacier's been there for centuries, whats another hour." Then I was up in Kenai Fjords last summer and a ranger told me to stay off a certain gravel bar after 2pm. I figured I'd push it to 2:30 because I wanted just a few more photos. Big mistake. The ice started groaning and a chunk the size of a house peeled off. The wave that hit the shore was no joke, I barely made it back to the kayak. Changed my whole mindset real quick.