Glacier Bay

[kellywhitehills]

What Glaciers are there and how close do you get to them??..What are our chances of seeing calving in mid sept..

[Toyz711]

the main glacier that most people see in glacier bay is

margerie glacier that is next to the grand pacific glacier. they are right together..we didn't see any calving there, but others...this year...have.

crusing up tarr inlet to see these glacier is quite beautiful.

after sept 1st the ship adds another inlet and glacier to the cruise through glacier national park. johns hopkins glacier is were we saw the calving and was more impressed. the water was so still. the ice in the water are smaller pieces and don't interfer with the ship, but it does show that the glacier has calved recently.

http://glacier-bay.gsfc.nasa.gov/maps/south.gif

http://www.alaskacruises.com/alaska_ports.asp?pageID=254

can't go up to john hopkins any earlier in the season since it's a birthing area for seals and the pups don't leave the area until then. i didn't see any seals at all, i thought there would be a few still hanging around, but if there was i didn't see them.

we got pretty close, but there was another ship behind us. at each glacier as our ship turned for the starboard side to get a view, it had to turn out and away from the glacier. the other ship moved in between us and the glacier.

 

i missed the calving at johns hopkins, but DH saw it..he was up on deck. it happened as the ship turned and started to leave, he walked around and followed the view...heard this "CRACK" saw it calved about 4 or 5 times...but big pieces but enough you heard it. he was very excited.

[ute_fan]

One thing that I enjoyed doing before going to Glacier Bay was reading about it on the National Park Service website. Here's a link: http://www.nps.gov/glba/

 

We were there in May, and like Toyz said, the main glacier that we saw was Margerie Glacier. Right next to it is Grand Pacific -- which is so covered with dirt that it took a while to realize it was a glacier too. We also saw Lamplugh and a glimpse of Reid, but couldn't get into Johns Hopkins, due to ice flows.

 

The calving is a matter of luck. We had a couple of small pieces, but nothing large the day we were there.

 

Here's one of my favorite photos of Margerie, just to whet your appetite:

[LisaH]

What Glaciers are there and how close do you get to them??..What are our chances of seeing calving in mid sept..

 

 

We just returned from our land and cruise - Island Princess. Glacier Bay was awesome. We had beautiful sunny weather and got very close to Grand Pacific and Marjorie glaciers. There was some calving on both - we missed the Grand Pacific calving but saw the tail end and heard the Marjorie calving. It is awesome when the captain turns the whole ship so everyone gets a view - it is just luck of the draw to see calving when you are facing the glacier. We were the only ship there that day so we had it all to ourselves and were there for 90 minutes - he turned the whole time.

[MercedMike]

Glacier Bay is an amazing experience. There are many glaciers reaching the bay. A good NPS map will help you as you go in. Also there is usually a Park Ranger on the PA announcing sights as you pass.

 

The classic cruise ship experience is to cruise down the right arm of the bay, approaching Margerie glacier on the port side and Grand Pacific on the starboard side. These two contrasting glaciers are very interesting, the Grand Pacific being a "dirty" glacier with lots of rock and dirt in it, and Margerie being one of the most beautiful deep blue glaciers and almost pristine in its purity.

 

Depending on conditions, the Captain normally tries to maneuver the ship in a figure eight in front of these two glaciers for an hour or so, giving each side of the ship good views.

 

Check out our pics at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaskaZ.html

for some great shots of Margerie.

 

Calving activity depends on so many factors. When we were there last there was some minor calving but nothing spectacular. The trip before that we did see one huge berg break off very noisily.

 

In September as others have said, you can also go down to the Johns Hopkins glacier. When we were there, all the chunks of ice in front of the glacier were covered with baby seals. The naturalist said their mothers had abandoned them and gone back out to sea and the babies were learning to fend for themselves. It was quite a sight. It is hard to get pictures, but check out

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaska.html

 

I know you will find Glacier Bay an unforgettable experience!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[gambit57]

In May, a HUGE chunk fell off of Margerie. Basically, a whole section, from top to bottom, fell down. The resulting wave even rocked our ship. After that, any other calving it did was boring.

[brunolvr]

What Glaciers are there and how close do you get to them??..What are our chances of seeing calving in mid sept..

 

Here's some good info on the 4 glaciers we saw while cruising on the Pearl in Glacier Bay on June 21st.

http://www.lcss.net/glacierbay/Glacier_Bay_glaciers.htm

 

Margerie Glacier is your best chance to see calving -- the ship is usually there 1/2 hour port side, then turns and spends another 1/2 hour starboard side.

 

We've never been lucky enough to get down the inlet to John Hopkins Glacier as in June, July & August it's closed to ships because the endangered harbor seals are breeding and giving birth to their young. It is my understanding, though, that in September you're able to get close to John Hopkins Glacier.