Hubbard Glacier Day

 Today we are in Hubbard Glacier all day. 

This tidewater glacier may be a bit of sleeping giant. Off the coast of Yakutat—200 miles NW of Juneau—Hubbard is certainly gigantic: it's more than six miles wide where it meets the ocean.

  

It’s also been very active in the past, having had two major surges in the past 30 years. Those surges were big enough to cross the bay, turning the fjord into a lake and threatening to flood the coastal town of Yakutat.

   

For now, the glacier isn’t surging, but you could say that it’s a pretty light sleeper— it does calve a lot. The face is up to 400 feet tall, and icebergs 3 to 4 stories in height aren’t uncommon.

Granted, most of that ice is below water, but the ice can be so thick that cruise ships can’t get too close. In the right conditions, however, your ship might be able to get within 1/2 mile of the face.

 

We start the day with "Bathrobes & Ice" - Meeting time 9:30 a.m. 

We don our bathrobes that Seabourne puts in our room and head to the front of the ship where we are greeted with champagne, Peach Schnapps, appetizers, and more warm drinks that smelled awesome, that I didn't try.