The Best Glaciers in Alaska

More of Alaska -- more than 100 times more -- is covered by glacier ice than is settled by human beings.

• Grand Pacific Glacier (Glacier Bay National Park): Two vast glaciers of deep blue meet at the top of an utterly barren fjord. Three intimidating walls of ice surround boats that pull close to the glaciers.

• Childs Glacier (Cordova): Out the Copper River Highway from Cordova, this is a participatory glacier-viewing experience. The glacier is cut by the Copper River, which is 1/4 mile broad; standing on the opposite shore (unless you're up in the viewing tower), you have to be ready to run like hell when the creaking, popping ice gives way and a huge berg falls into the river, potentially swamping the picnic area. On one occasion, a glacier-generated wave left a salmon in a tree. Even when the glacier isn't calving, you can feel the ice groaning in your gut.

• Exit Glacier (Seward): You can park near the glacier and walk the rest of the way on an easy, short gravel path. The vast wall of the glacier towers above like a huge blue sculpture, the spires of broken ice close enough to breathe a freezer-door chill down on watchers.

• Western Prince William Sound: On a boat from Whittier, you can see a couple of dozen glaciers in a day. Some of these are the amazing tidewater glaciers that dump huge, office building-size spires of ice into the ocean, each setting off a terrific splash and outward-radiating sea wave.