Hubbard Glacier - Day 4 (Part 2)

We approached Hubbard Glacier and had nothing but fog....then all of a sudden we caught glimpses through the sky of towering snow-capped peaks around us. Then dense fog. The captain said we were lose, and not to be alarmed by icebergs. Not quite “titanic-sized” but enpugh he had to navigate through. We dropped to a crawl as the fog made it difficult to spot them.

Suddenly we broke out into bright sunshine, out of the fog bank we left behind and there it was, the Hubbard Glacier directly in front.

Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidal glacier in North America. A tidal glacier is one that reaches the sea. As it was early in the season, there was lots of ice infront of us. The captain stated he would get us as close as possible. The face of the glacier is over 6 miles long where it reaches the ocean. Even from a distance you could appreciate the size of it, the colors, the deep blue in the ice. The Hubbard Glacier is actually fed by 3 other glaciers from high above in the surrounding mountains. These rivers of ice join up with the Hubbard as it flows to the sea.

The captain got as close as he dared. We could hear the rumble of the glacier even from this distance. After a bit the captain rotated the ship 360 degrees, slowly and on a dime. Ships are designed to turn in this manner with no forward movement. Kind of amazing in of itself given the size of the vessel. This rotation of the boat allowed all on board to get perfect photos of the glacier.

Then it was time to head back to the open sea, and that fog and the familiar rythmn of the ship’s foghorn. And it is now almost dinner time. Hahaha

Tomorrow we arrive at Ice Straight Point. Not far from Juneau in one of the interior passages known for Humpback Whale feeding behavior. It is still early in the summer, but the whales have finished migrating from the Baja of Mexico where they spend the winters to breed, so I hope we will see what is known as ‘bubble net’ feeding behavior. We will see!

Truly a relaxing day today on the ocean, with a spectacular glacier viewing to cap off the day! Until the next post.....