July 8, 2010 Hubbard Glacier
Sunny and beautiful today. Perfect day to view the glacier. We thought we were getting very close, when the captain announced we were still 4.5 miles away if that gives you any sense of the size of this baby. We actually ended up a few hundred feet from it, a
nd witnessed many "calvings" where pieces of the glacier fell into the ocean. We saw one huge chunk drop in, and huge pieces of solid ice from underneath it came roaring up like ice whales coming up for air. What was truly amazing were the sounds. They call it white thunder, and the noise of the ice cracking and finally crumbling into the sea was just like thunder. The glacier begins 76 miles in the mountains, and the i
ce we see breaking off is 400 years old. Sea lions were on many of the chunks of ice that had fallen off and that was because it was a safe place for them to escape the killer whales. We spent close to two hours in front of Hubbard before sailing off to Seward.
nd witnessed many "calvings" where pieces of the glacier fell into the ocean. We saw one huge chunk drop in, and huge pieces of solid ice from underneath it came roaring up like ice whales coming up for air. What was truly amazing were the sounds. They call it white thunder, and the noise of the ice cracking and finally crumbling into the sea was just like thunder. The glacier begins 76 miles in the mountains, and the i
ce we see breaking off is 400 years old. Sea lions were on many of the chunks of ice that had fallen off and that was because it was a safe place for them to escape the killer whales. We spent close to two hours in front of Hubbard before sailing off to Seward. 
After the glacier we spent a sea day traveling to Seward - this was a very rough part of the cruise. It had been smooth as glass up until this day.
July 9th Seward
Woke up in the morning in Seward, AK. It's a small town of 2800 people located at the end of Resurrection Bay. The bay is over 2000 feet deep, and as most of the places we have been so far, surrounded by mounta
ins. From the dock we boarded a bus and the first stop was at the Seward Aquarium which was worth seeing. They have a 2000 pound sea lion which they fed while we were there.
ins. From the dock we boarded a bus and the first stop was at the Seward Aquarium which was worth seeing. They have a 2000 pound sea lion which they fed while we were there.After that we traveled out of the Kenai Peninsula and into the Turnagain Arm which was heavily damaged in the 1964 earthquake. Stopped at the Wildlife Conservation Center to see moose, bear, elk, bison, musk ox, and deer. Left for the Chugach National Forest and
Alyeska. Stayed at the Hotel Alyeska which is a fantastic ski resort in winter with a tram in the back. This was a 5 star hotel.
Alyeska. Stayed at the Hotel Alyeska which is a fantastic ski resort in winter with a tram in the back. This was a 5 star hotel. From Alyeska we continued on our motorcoach scenic drive to Anchorage and then Denali National Park (more on that later). From Denali we took a scenic train ride to Fairbanks. In Fairbanks where we connected with our Southbound adventure - to be continued.
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