It’s day four on BC_DisneyGeek’s fantastic Alaska cruise on the Celebrity Century. This “day at sea” is devoted to viewing (and cruising through) the spectacular Hubbard Glacier. Apparently the glacier bits that are floating in the ocean have actually taken four hundred years to travel there. Did you know that glaciers have calves? It’s true. Read on… ~~Rick
Day four at sea finds beautiful weather once again:
Today the ship is traveling to the spectacular Hubbard Glacier:
Hubbard Glacier is located in eastern Alaska and is actually part of Canada.
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.
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. Wikipedia
* Ice sheets “calve” by breaking off flat pieces when the walls of crevasses give way or chunks fall off the front of an ice sheet. The results are called ice bergs, bergy bits and crevasse wall breakaways. Ellin Beltz Glossary of Glacier Terms
Lots of ice in the water, yet the weather was fairly mild:
They opened up the lower deck of the ship (otherwise closed):
Approaching the glacier:
They tell us we got closer than the ship did a week prior. Conditions dictate how close the ship gets to the glacier:
In addition to the glacier, today afforded gorgeous views of snow covered mountains:
There were a lot of people out on deck, but it was never so crowded that one couldn’t get a good spot to enjoy the scenery:
Too cold for swimming?
The ship did a full 360 degree turn so everyone, particularly those watching from a private balcony, could get a good luck at the glacier:
After an hour or so at the glacier we depart:
Dinner was excellent as always.
