Hubbard Glacier

Cruised all night to get to Hubbard Glacier by 8am.  Got up at 6 to watch the sun rise over the mountains.  Freezing cold and we were driven inside by 7 to put all our clothes on, about 8 layers all told.  You will see once I am able to post photos how unattractive wearing so many clothes can be!  So at 8am we lined up for hot chocolate laced (half full I thought) with Kaluha, was nice to have a little fire inside while the fingers froze.

The effort was all worth it though.  We came into the bay where the glacier terminates and slowly made our way closer and closer, slower and slower until we were within a couple of hundred metres from the foot of the ice.  We were on the 12^th deck and the top of the ice was about eye level.  The colours of blue, grey and white almost blind you with their clarity and depth.  Started out overcast which made the blues stand out, later watched as the sun stroked the ice and caused reflections against and through the ice wall and into the background of the glacier.

The real bonus came almost as soon as we drew to the closest point, the glacier began to calve.  This is where huge blocks of the front of the ice break off and crash into the sea causing a great splash and resultant wave.  As the ice hits the water, the sound of the ice breaking off hit our ears and it was like thunder, rolling over the ship.  The cruise Captain and Director both claim this phenomena is available only on a few occasions during the season to cruise ship passengers, just last week it rained constantly for the duration of their 2 hour stay.  Spoke to a few people around us who’d been on previous cruises and they had never seen such a sight.  Not sure if they were having us on or not but it certainly was a special day.

We watched three major calvings with chunks of ice the size of double decked buses hitting  the water and many minor chunks of ice fell into the ocean, all accompanied by the rolling thunder and huge splashes of water.  While we were in the bay the crew cast off with a small boat and tradition has it they collect a chunk of ice and later carve it and display the result in the dining room.

Had to finally leave, the bay, which was almost empty of ice on arrival, was quickly filling with both small and large lumps of ice and the Captain thought it best to get out before we got stuck for the winter.

This morning was without doubt one of the highlights of the trip so far and will remain with us forever.  The photos we took will not come close to showing the impact of this sight and area.  The ship stayed in position for 2 hours and each minutes was filled with anticipation and awe inspiring sites.  Definitely one for the photo books!

Now back into the Pacific Ocean, heading south towards Juneau.  From Icy Strait Point to Hubbard Glacier was 14 hours, back to Juneau is 18 hours….all for a 2 hour stay in front of a glacier which is not guaranteed to be seen, some risk but it paid off this time.

Delicious tea again tonight, couple of barmen tried to introduce me to some of their friends, I really wasn’t interested in meeting Jack Daniels or Jim Beam, however, had a couple of fairly dangerous after dinner concoctions which has left the ship rolling at all sorts of angles.  Never mind – I think there are only about 3 nights to go till I enter detox, looking forward to that!!!

Just a couple of the dozens of photos we took in the 2 hours we were at the glacier.  With a little reminder, this ice face is the same height as the ship you saw in yesterdays photos.

Dawn coming into site of the glacier.

Cold, cold, cold.

And getting colder

Now it's bloody cold!!!

Getting oh so close.

The mountain and 'dirty' glacier to the left.

The staff out collecting ice for an ice sculptor on board later.

The calving of a glacier, the break, the splash and the wave.