Alaska, Hubbard Glacier 2007

In August I had an opportunity to take a one week Alaska crusie with my mother.  The day our journey took us from Skagway to Ketchikan we cruised into Yakutat Bay and the Hubbard Glacier.  With weather permitting and perfect sea conditions the captain of our ship was able to get within 1/2 mile of the face of the glacier, which is the minimum legal distance allowed.  We spent approx 3 hours in Yakutat Bay and close to the glacier, the captain manuvered the ship around in all directions so everyone was able to get great views of the glacier.  We were very fortunate to experience the Hubbard Glacier calving on this day.  The week before there was no calving activity at all.  I was able to capture some of the calving taking place and wanted to share that exciting experience.  You can view some photos here . 

The Hubbard Glacier is the longest, actively calving tidewater glacier in North America.  It's 16,000 years old, 76 miles long.  Has a 6 mile wide ice cliff face with 450 feet above sea level, 380 feet below sea level and advances 40 feet per year.

Being in Yakutat Bay, seeing the glacier calving and ice floating in the water was certainly an exciting experience. 

If you want to be pampered and spoiled for a week, a cruise is certainly the way to go .

Fantastic Pics, J-Lady.
I may decide to postpone my trip to ski the Hubbard.

awesome pics jeanette! I will definitely be visiting AK next year and may make a stop to the Hubbard. Hope to see you out on the mtn soon- I am getting tired of fishing and need snow. Will be in touch. Plans for this weekend?

Cool. Was anyone surfing the waves from the chunks falling off the glacier?

No one surfing the waves .  But they did lower one of the life boats and recover some of the glacier ice for a very nice and fairly large ice dragon for the midnight buffet.