But By Sunrise All These Cliff,
Jungle, And Torrent Troubles Were Overcome And I Gladly Found Myself
Free On The Magnificent Ice-River.
The curving, out-bulging front of the glacier is about two miles
wide, two hundred feet high, and its
Surface for a mile or so above
the front is strewn with moraine detritus, giving it a strangely
dirty, dusky look, hence its name, the "Dirt Glacier," this
detritus-laden portion being all that is seen in passing up the
river. A mile or two beyond the moraine-covered part I was surprised
to find alpine plants growing on the ice, fresh and green, some of
them in full flower. These curious glacier gardens, the first I had
seen, were evidently planted by snow avalanches from the high walls.
They were well watered, of course, by the melting surface of the ice
and fairly well nourished by humus still attached to the roots, and
in some places formed beds of considerable thickness. Seedling trees
and bushes also were growing among the flowers. Admiring these novel
floating gardens, I struck out for the middle of the pure white
glacier, where the ice seemed smoother, and then held straight on
for about eight miles, where I reluctantly turned back to meet the
steamer, greatly regretting that I had not brought a week's supply of
hardtack to allow me to explore the glacier to its head, and then
trust to some passing canoe to take me down to Buck Station, from
which I could explore the Big Stickeen Glacier.
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