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“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Plato once said. There is beauty in people, in your surroundings, and in the stars at night. There are many places on this planet that Mother Nature has given a special touch. Scenes that are so breathtaking that it makes you realize who you are, where you are at, and how small you are. There are places where all of your senses are awestruck with the surroundings, and you feel total powerlessness in the grandeur. When you see the awesome displays of nature at Glacier Bay, Alaska, they can make you feel that powerlessness.

The beauty around Glacier Bay is truly something to behold. As you stand in a cruise boat, you look around and take notice of everything. There are majestic, rocky, snow capped, mountains that surround the bay and rise to above 15,000 feet. They seem to stare down at you and make you feel as if you should kneel to their presence. They tower over you and stand guard over this serene scene. As the sun sets slowly behind you, the pink and orange reflections off of the mountain peaks almost blind you. A fierce wind sweeps down from the mountains. It races across the glacier and bay, and it touches you. Immediately, goose bumps spring up all over you, and the chill sends shivers down your spine

The glaciers, filled with prehistoric ice, snake down from these mountains and into the bay before you. The mountains seem to be handing these glaciers to you as a gift. You can’t even imagine what to do with that kind of power. You can see and hear pillars of ancient ice and snow periodically falling off of the glacier and into the calm, clear bay. They crash into the water and slowly float toward you. They are like small tokens that the mountains are giving out to you. As you watch them glide by slowly in the bay, you wonder if they are heading out on some sort of journey. If you are lucky enough to stand on one of these glaciers, you can feel its life below you. The vibrations from far off come right up through the soles of your feet. It’s power that comes from miles away, yet you can feel and sense it.

Bordering these glaciers, there is a beautiful, untouched, old-growth forest filled with giant Douglas Firs and Red Cedars that come at you from the base of the mountains right up to the bay’s edge. Their size and stature is overwhelming. Their branches are reaching out to you and using their power to pull you into their grasp and keep you there forever. The scent of the cedar is sweet, clean and fresh. There is pungent smelling moss that hangs like cloaks from the trees. As the wind blows through the boughs, the trees sway back and forth, cracking and moaning. It’s as if they’re doing some slow song and dance they have been practicing for centuries. Finally, the smell from the salty ocean mixed with the mossy scent of the forest will strike you and remind you that amongst all that power, there is true refreshment. You can taste the fresh air. It cleanses your palate like cold, fresh water from a mountain stream.

The wildlife that lives in this forest around these glaciers and in the bay is very amazing. The killer whales are constantly surfacing around you. They seem curious as to what you’re doing there. Every time they surface, you can hear the rushing noise of their breath. They breathe life into the cold surroundings. Their massive size is very intimidating, yet they look peaceful as they glide through the clear water. If you could harness the power that they have, it would make you feel God-like. The thousands of harbor seals gathered around on the rocks also seem curious. They seem to tease and play with the killer whales, darting back and forth in front of them. As you look up, you will notice the many types of birds that are nesting in the trees and cliffs around the bay. Literally hundreds of species exist here. A rushing sound fills your ears as they all take off at the same time. If you look closely, you may even catch a glimpse of the deer, elk and bear that make their homes around the forest and bay.

As the day comes to its end, take the time to reflect upon the power you have seen, felt, heard, tasted, and smelled. The beauty of the towering mountains in the distance, the glaciers, the old-growth forest, and the crystal clear water, is breathtaking. The teaming wildlife in and around the bay is truly awesome. There is so much life, warmth, and natural beauty in such an unforgiving place. It makes you truly realize how small you are compared to nature. You realize just how powerless you really are.

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