Garden Ramblings: Cruise, Day 7 (a crusing day)

The sky was blue and the sun was shining as we prepared to sail up to Hubbard Glacier. We had all been told that we would be at the glacier between 7:00 and 9:00 am, so the seven of us made plans to be on deck by 6:30. We chose to meet at Cosmos - the big theater at the front of the ship with huge picture windows. Lee and I were sound asleep when our alarm went off at 6:00, so we were the last of our group to arrive. Bless them, they had saved seats for us, so we were treated to panoramic views of the glacier as we
approached it. Lee was armed with both of his camera lens, hoping for great shots. They opened the heli-pad to guests wanting to have front row seats, and Bryan, Lee and Peter ended up down there.

As we approached the glacier, little bits of ice began to appear in the water, and they got larger as we got closer. Fortunately, all of the ice was moving, as we weren't an ice-breaker! There were lots of seals out on the floating ice as well.

At one point, the glacier seemed really close, and the captain announced that we were still 3 miles from it! That's how crystal clear the air was.

We got to within 700 yards of the glacier, and there we did a 360 degree turn, so that everyone could have a great view, from wherever on the ship they were. We saw several "calvings" - large chunks of ice falling from the glacier face, into the ocean - very impressive and quite loud!

Here's some information on Hubbard Glacier:

The longest source for Hubbard Glacier originates 76 miles from its snout and is located at about at about approximately 5 miles west of Mt. Walsh with an altitude around 11,000 feet. A shorter tributary glacier begins at the easternmost summit on the Mt. Logan ridge at about 18,300 feet.

Before it reaches the sea, Hubbard is joined by the Valerie Glacier to the west, which, through forward surges of its own ice, has contributed to the advance of the ice flow that experts believe will eventually dam the Russell Fiord from Disenchantment Bay waters.

The Hubbard Glacier ice margin has continued to advance for about a century. In May 1986, the Hubbard Glacier surged forward, blocking the outlet of Russell Fiord and creating "Russell Lake." All that summer the new lake filled with runoff; its water level rose 25 meters, and the decrease in salinity threatened its sea life.

Around midnight on October 8 the dam began to give way. In the next 24 hours an estimated 1.3 cu miles of water gushed through the gap, and the fiord was reconnected to the ocean at its previous level. This was the second largest glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in recorded history, and had the equivalent flow of about 35 Niagara Falls.

In spring 2002, the glacier again approached Bert Point. It pushed a terminal moraine ahead of its face and closed the opening again in July. On August 14, the terminal moraine was washed away after rains had raised the water level behind the dam it formed to 61 ft above sea level. The fiord could become dammed again, and perhaps permanently. If this happens, the fiord could overflow its southern banks and drain through the Situk River instead, threatening trout habitat and a local airport.

It takes about 400 years for ice to traverse the length of the glacier, meaning that the ice at the foot of the glacier is about 400 years old. The glacier routinely calves off icebergs the size of a ten-story building. Where the glacier meets the shore, most of the ice is below the waterline, and newly calved icebergs can shoot up quite dramatically, so that ships must keep their distance from it as they ply their way up and down the coast.

We found it interesting that while most glaciers are receding, this one continues to move forward. It was truly an amazing site, and all of us were in awe.

We all agreed that the two hours spent at the glacier were worth the price of admission for the whole cruise! We also learned later that day, that the cruise ship visiting Hubbard Glacier the day before had been unable to enter the bay, due to weather. So, we were very blessed, for sure!

We've picked a few of the many, many pictures of the glacier to share with you. I won't caption every picture, as they speak quite well for themselves.

Hubbard Glacier - the highlight of this very amazing cruise!