May 15 — White Thunder

May 15, 2022

Yakutat Bay, Alaska

On the left, you can see the splash made by a chunk of Hubbard Glacier that has just calved off.

After spending some time with Knitters and Knatters, I joined Ken and we attended a presentation on Alaska Native Culture. 

Here is a picture of the progress I have made on my sashiko project. In case you are wondering if I will ever finish it, the answer is “Yes, I am not Penelope.” It may seem like I undo part of it every night, but I am just slow, and I only undo parts when I don’t like how they look (which is more often than I would like to admit).

The presentation on Alaska Native Culture was very good. The presenter, Rachel Moreno, is a Tlingit, from present-day Hoonah. She told us about her clan’s history in Glacier Bay. In 1680 her people were living in a verdant valley with a glacier at the far end of it. By 1750 the Little Ice Age had caused the glacier to spread rapidly all the way down the valley and into Icy Strait, covering the site of the Tlingit village and gouging out Glacier Bay. The glacier then began to melt back, and by 1879, when John Muir visited the area, the glacier had retreated more than 40 miles. Glacier Bay filled in with water as the glacier retreated.

When the glacier began advancing during the Little Ice Age, Rachel’s ancestors were forced to leave their valley and they resettled in Hoonah around 1750. Today, Hoonah (pop 931) operates a small cruise ship port at Icy Strait Point, the site of a former cannery. The people of Hoonah seem to be working hard to preserve their language and culture, as well as their knowledge about their land and resources.

But Glacier Bay will be our destination tomorrow. This afternoon we visited magnificent Hubbard Glacier, near Yakutat. Mark-Your-Naturalist was on board to provide color commentary as we approached this massive glacier. We had beautiful weather and favorable conditions for getting close to the glacier.

Mark-Your-Naturalist provided tidbits of information from time to time. Hubbard’s face is more than six miles wide and is up to 400 feet tall in places. Out of 10,000 glaciers in Alaska, Hubbard is one of only six that is currently advancing.

As we got closer Mark spoke about the sounds made by an actively calving glacier. He pointed out that sound travels about 1,000 feet per second, so when we see a large chunk falling off, we will not hear the noise instantaneously. The noise will be a low rumble, not a splash. Hubbard made crashing and grinding sounds frequently. It groaned and creaked and popped. Mark said the Native Alaskans called the glaciers “White Thunder.”

Some Icebergs

Remember that a large part of each of these icebergs lies below the waterline.

Blue Ice

These are some of my favorite pictures of the glacier, all taken by Ken. Sometimes fresh water (from melted ice) will pool on top of the salt water because it is lighter. Fresh water will reflect the scenery, salt water will not. Look at the last photo in this series for a good example.

Panorama

Goodbye, mighty glacier! I will let Hubbard speak for herself in these panoramic shots. I’m sure the glacier identifies as she/her.

It’s hard to show the size and scale of the glacier. We were awestruck. We’ve been here before, but it made even more of an impression this time, perhaps because it was such a beautiful, sunny day. Our aft balcony was worth every penny.

After a mental readjustment, we went to dinner and then the evening show, Encore. A gifted young soprano performed the lead, and it was a perfect finish to a spectacular day.