"AlaskaQuest
2001" was generously underwritten by a grant from Bartley
Severe Hodges of Austin, Texas, and supported with equipment provided
by the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist
University.
Smith
Glacier, Alaska
Field
Notes and Images
May
29
On
the way through the stunning Alaskan landscape we observed wild sheep
on the mountain sides, a large grey moose, and several bald eagles.
May
31
Sailing
south from Seward toward Prince William Sound, we awakened early on
day three to observe the College Fjord and its spectacular glaciers.
These were first described in 1899 by the Harriman expedition.
June
1
We
sailed into Yakatuk Bay, named "Disappointment Bay" in 1791
by a Spanish expedition searching for the fabled Northwest Passage.
The far north eastern end of the bay is blocked by an enormous glacier,
and ended this portion of the Spainards' search, hence the name.
June
2
Over
a century ago, prospectors named Dick Harris and Joe Juneau found gold
in Gastineau Channel at the mouth of Gold Creek, the stream that now
courses through the center of town. The mountains that cradle present-day
Juneau were rich in low-grade gold-ore.
June
3
The
rain forest has largely restored itself in the century since the gold
rush. Unlike the more fragile tropical rain forests, in which the majority
of the biomass is high in the canopy, most of the biomass in these rain
forests is located on and near the forest floor.
.
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