Snap! Fishing for footage.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Like a patient fisherman watching his line in the water, I scan the forward wall of the glacier, my fishing rod a D3200 Nikon camera, my quarry a calving glacier. In the afternoon sun, I’ve shed my jacket, one layer in my three layers of shirts, my hat and gloves; I hope the glacier will shed some of its turquoise ice to the silty green lake water below. My fishing rod at the ready, tuned to a setting of 1000, a fast shutter speed to catch the ice falling and the subsequent mini-tidal wave of water.

In the distance, I hear the thundering crash, some ice has calved out of sight, just around the corner. I can see a splash, the water dips and rises. My time will come soon. I resume my vigilant watch of the sheer face of the glacier taking time to admire the distant snow capped craggy peaks, the dimpled surface of the glacier enclosed by the maroon lenga forrest-skirted mountains.

I hear some cracking and crashing close by. I hurriedly raise my camera hoping to catch the plunge into the water. The initial crash is just a precursor.

Snap! As the ice cracks.
Snap! As the ice separates from the wall.
Snap! As the block starts its plunge.
Snap! As the block slides downward into the green water.
Snap! As the block just peeks out over its spray.
Snap! As the spray of water gushes from the wall.
Snap! As the drowning block hollows out the water.
Snap! As the returning water geysers into the sky.
Snap! As the spray fans away from the point of entry.
Snap! As the spray collapses back to the water.
Snap! As the water crater expands.
Snap! As the water crater center refills.

I pause but hear more cracking. The first calving has weakened the ice’s purchase on the wall next to it. It starts to crack! I can’t be this lucky!

Snap! As the wall begins to crumbles.
Snap! As the ice tears away from the glacier.
Snap! As the blocks of ice start their plunge.
Snap! As the water explodes from the base.
Snap! As the water reaches out into the lake.
Snap! As the mound of water and spray starts to collapse.
Snap! As the water rushing to fill the hole geysers into the air.
Snap! As the geyser stretches over a hundred feet into the air.
Snap! As the spray starts to fall back.
Snap! As the wave tsunami’s away from its center.
Snap! As the water and spray come back to meet each other.
Snap! As the water and spray flatten.
Snap! As the aftershocks of the undulating water spread out.

I feel the deep crashing sound viscerally in my gut but I am far enough away to feel awe instead of fear. I’ve caught my quarry, two huge fish with one bait, my camera drops in front of me as I survey the after effects of the event and check the blueness of the freshly exposed glacial ice. I watch the ripples of water doppler away,  the concentric waves move out into the reflection of the sun on the lake, sparkling like diamond studded bracelets. I catch my breath. Wow! I fix my grasp on the camera lens and wait, my gaze again moving up and down the long horizontal wall of the face of the glacier.

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