August 29, 2018

Our Alaskan cruise began with a visit to the majestic Hubbard Glacier. Excitement was in the air as everyone kept watching the clock for 3:00 p.m. when we would be approaching the natural wonder.

Eyes are immediately drawn to the magnificent white snow-capped mountains in the distance. As we drifted closer, everyone began pointing to the stunning chunk of ice at the base of the mountains.

The Hubbard Glacier, named after Gardiner Hubbard, is the largest tidewater glacier in the North American continent.  It is 400 years old and measures 300 feet high, six miles wide and 76 miles long. That’s twenty-five percent the size of Rhode Island!

Wonderment filled the air as we came within two hundred feet of the glacier. There was a hushed silence of awe, then someone would shout out when a section would fall and flow past the ship. No one seemed to notice the cold until the ship’s crew began serving cups of hot chocolate.

Cruise ships cannot get but so close to the glacier because icebergs the size of a ten-story building can shoot up at any time.

The Glacier surges through rock and soil as it moves down the slope causing lines of dark colors above the crystal blue base. I was reminded of age rings of a tree.

We spent two hours circling and watching the ice fall from the sides. It was hard to say goodbye but made for a spectacular sunset.