Hubbard Glacier

 

We arrived at Hubbard Glacier around 5:00 in the afternoon.  It had been overcast and foggy most of the day but about 30 minutes before we entered the channel leading to the glacier, the sun came out and it was a warm, perfect afternoon for visiting this beautiful sight.  We were in t-shirts and wearing sunglasses until we made our final approach and then we had to put on jackets.  The closer we got, the colder it got.

From our balcony, we were able to get a perfect view of the face of the glacier and the surrounding mountains.  On the far right side, the water was full of ice indicating a lot of calving.  When the ship's engines quieted, we could hear what sounds like shot gun blasts in the distance and then rumbling like an earthquake.  There is loud creeking, cracking, and popping sounds, too.  Then it will be so still you could hear a pin drop.  We were lucky to see several big chunks of ice break off and plunge into the sea.  When the ice hits the water it 'boils' up like a large Alka Seltzer going into the water.   

At the far right, there is now a large opening from the ocean side to the fresh water side where the ice has completely melted away.  When it was apparent that this was going to happen, local Indians were worried that the mix of salt and fresh water would be terrible for the environment but that did not happen.  The fresh water pours into the salt water at a rate that stops the salt water from moving upstream. 

The ice is a mixture of white, black, clear and blue colors.  The ice reflects all colors except blue and that's why the blue shows up.  The water is a gray because of all the glacier rock in the ice that has been ground into silt by the ice moving forward for so long. 

Everyone who had the 6:00 seating for dinner missed their meal this night.  We were just too enchanted with what we were seeing to miss a minute of it to eat dinner.  The Windjammer was sure busy later!  LOL

Next, our first port - Skagway.

Until then................          ô..ô