Lituya Bay/Glacier Bay National Park
After a restful night's sleep at the Aspen Hotel in Juneau, the WGN crew headed out to Lituya Bay, to see in person the site of the 1958 tsunami and talk with NOAA meteorologist Chris Maier.
The one-hour flight from Juneau to Lituya Bay packed in breathtaking views and unbelievable natural wonders such as glacier ice fields and the robin's egg blue glacier silt that runs out into the Gulf of Alaska.
Our eagle-eyed pilot Avery Gast, of Ward Air, landed our floatplane near Lituya Glacier, in Lituya Bay in view of the remnants of the tidal rock slide that accompanied the 1958 tsunami. As we prepared for filming, we marveled at the treacherous beauty of the bay and surrounding Fairweather mountain range.
From our vantage point, we were able to see the level of new tree line growth that marked exactly where the nearly 1,800 foot splash crashed against the side of the mountain and stripped all vegetation off of the rock and the bark off of the trees. On the other side of Lituya Glacier, was what's left of the rock slide that dumped 80,000 tons of rock into the bay.
Since the 1700's the mythology of the bay has kept visitors keenly aware of just how violent and turbulent the weather can turn here; yet, it is easy to see how alluring the bay must have been to all of those who traveled here before us.
As the good weather held up for our shoot, the evidence of wildlife was everywhere from the fresh grizzly bear tracks left in the glacier silt to the whales and sea otters that played in the bay.
As we departed Lituya Bay, we continued on to Glacier Bay Lodge in Glacier Bay National Park. Tomorrow we will be taking a wildlife boat tour of Glacier Bay and then head to Girdwood for the night.
Copyright © 2008, WGN-TV
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