Last Evening in Lituya Bay

The water is mirror-smooth. An eagle circles, spirals, drops talon-first to glance the surface, rises away. I walk out over rain-slick rocks toward the point with the belching seals. They’re sunning in their improbable rock-top crescent balances, nose and tail pointed skyward.

Yesterday, we skimmed out to the head of the bay to explore the three glaciers. Our rubber dinghy bottomed out in bubbling gray silt while…