Hubbard Glacier, Alaska 7/25/1997 400' Wall of Blue Ice

(HUBBARD GLACIER, ALASKA, Friday, July 25, 1997)

by Bob Van Leer

Today was for glacier viewing. Our ship, Ryndam, traveled up to the head of Disenchantment Bay to within a few hundred yards of the face of the 92-mile long Hubbard Glacier.

Hubbard is built by snows of up to 50 feet annually in the Chugach Mountains with peaks of up to 14,000 feet.

As we entered the bay we were in thick fog, however the visibility raised to about a thousand feet near the glacier giving us an opportunity for good visibility. There are several other glaciers near Hubbard, but not as large. We approached within two-tenths of a mile of the glacier. Chunks of ice float through the whole bay.

Hubbard moves at speeds of up to 33 feet per day and was in the news in May, 1986, when it closed off Russell Fjord and created a huge freshwater lake trapping a number of marine mammals. The lake blew open in October of the same year and the ship’s glacier expert said it took 26 hours to empty the lake.

The process of chunks breaking off the glacier face is called “calving” and we were able to witness a number of “calvings”. The breaking off causes a sound like thunder. Because of the distance and light traveling faster than sound, by the time you hear it the “calving” is already underway and sometimes all you see is the splash as the ice hits the water.

The glacier face as it reaches the bay is 300-400 feet high and about six miles long. The glacier ice has a blue appearance. The expert says the ice is not actually blue but appears so because the ice is under tremendous pressure and absorbs all but blue light rays, which are reflected. Trying to put the best face on it, she said if it was a sunshiny day we would not be able to see the blue color.

Alaska has more than 100,000 glaciers covering approximately 30,000 square miles. The Alaska Geographic Society defines a glacier as, “A glacier is a perennial accumulation of ice, snow, water, rock and sediment that moves under the influence of gravity”. Translated that means more snow falls than melts and the excess is pushed downhill by the weight and it moves rock and sediment ahead of it.

At noon we headed down the bay and turned west to our next port of call, Valdez.

EAT ALL DAY
Cruise ships include meals as part of the package costs and food is available virtually continuously somewhere on the ship. And the food is excellent, so it is difficult not to pig out.

Breakfast is served in the main dining room from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. In the cafeteria-style Lido restaurant breakfast is served from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Lunch is served at the dining room from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunch is also served at the Lido from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. In addition, at the pool side, hamburgers, hot dogs and tacos are served from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00. There is a salmon bake by the pool from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Dinner in the dining room has two seatings, 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

In addition, special food events are scheduled all day. From 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. cheese, French bread and wine is served on the bow. Green pea soup is available on outside decks from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Dutch cheese fondue is served at the Ocean Bar at 3:00 p.m. Afternoon tea is served in the Explorers Lounge from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m. And there is a “dessert extravaganza” in the Lido from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Dessert selections are always available after lunch and dinner.

The ice cream parlor is open at the Lido from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

There is a juice bar at the Lido from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and coffee and tea are available 24 hours at the Lido.

Smiling crew members are always ready to serve you and soiled dishes are whisked away immediately. It all makes counting calories difficult.

LINES CONSOLIDATING
In a session for members of service clubs, Larry Garrett, cruise director, said the Ryndam is one of four ships built by Holland American on the same design. He said the cost was about $350 million each.

Garrett said there is consolidation going on in the cruise industry and he expects it will be down to a half-dozen companies in a few years. Holland American and Costa, an Italian cruise line, was recently bought by Carnival lines.

He said Holland American will continue to operate independently, but we would question if the culture of Dutch officers, Indonesian crew and food service workers and Filipino bar service workers can continue as part of a U.S. company headquartered in Miami.

Garrett said Alaskan cruising is getting as popular as Caribbean. He said permits are now needed for cruise ships to visit popular sites such as Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. The total number of ships is restricted.

We are getting farther north now and the days are considerably longer. It is not midnight sun yet, but there was still a faint glow of light in the sky at 11:30 p.m.

Our captain said Valdez is 567 miles from Sitka on the course we are taking and we are to arrive at Valdez about 6:00 a.m.