We didn’t take our cruise to Alaska to visit the cities; instead, we took our cruise to Alaska to visit Glacier Bay National Park. The glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park are impressive. There are two ways to tour Glacier Bay National Park. Like we did, you can take a cruise ship we chose, Holland America, more about that later, or take a private tour on a much smaller ship.
The closest city to Glacier Bay National Park is Glacier Bay is Juneau. The closest town to Glacier Bay National Park is Gustavas. Like Juneau, Gustavus can only be reached by plane or boat. Glacier Bay National Park headquarters is in Gustavas.
One of our most memorable experiences in 2023 was taking a tour boat from Valdeze to the Columbia Glacier. Our trip on the LuLu Belle was terrific. Here is a link to that story. Deep into the ice flows at the Columbia Glacier.
Cruising to Glacier Bay National Park
You will need a boat to go to Glacier Bay National Park. The most luxurious way to visit is on a cruise ship. For our cruise, I wanted to repeat our Columbia Glacier Visit by visiting Glacier Bay National Park. The easiest way to visit Glacier Bay National Park is by taking a cruise to Alaska. However, be careful: not all cruises to Alaska include a visit to Glacier Bay National Park.
This visit to Glacier Bay National Park is why we chose to cruise on Holland America and chose to make our trip on the Eurodam. Everything about our cruise was associated with our visit to Glacier Bay. I have written two other articles about our cruise to Alaska in 2024. The first article is about how we like our cruise. Here is a link to that one. Our cruise to Alaska
The second article is about the places we visited on our cruise to Alaska. Here is a link to that article. Exploring Alaska’s Coastline
What is a Glacier?
It takes more than lots of snow to make a glacier. One common characteristic is that glaciers are all snow turned into ice; thus, they are freshwater ice instead of sea ice.
There are no glaciers in the Arctic Ocean.
Much of the Arctic Ocean is covered with sea ice year-round. The ice at the North Pole is frozen seawater; thus, the polar ice cap is not a glacier.
All glaciers move downhill.
Glaciers are found in high mountains in addition to Antarctica and Greenland. The ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland are not glaciers but ice sheets. Many glaciers are at the edges of the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. Glaciers all move slowly downhill. Some glaciers terminate on land and a few flow into lakes or the ocean. Glaciers that terminate in the sea are tidewater glaciers. The glaciers we visited on our cruise were impressive; the best were tidewater glaciers.
Many glaciers come from Ice Fields.
When ice covers a mountain range, it is called an Ice Cap or Ice Field. Ice Fields are often the source of many glaciers. Glaciers spill over the edges of the ice fields and carve valleys below the ice fields. Glaciers on the west side of Glacier National Park come from the Brady Ice Field.
We first started seeing glaciers last year as we worked north through Canada. Denali was also covered with glaciers, which was not far from where we traveled. The first glacier we walked up to see was the Portage Glacier, which is at the head of the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. The first giant glacier we visited was the Matanuska Glacier, which once carved its way for hundreds of miles—covering Palmer, Anchorage, and creating the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet. Here is a link to that story. Going up to the Matanuska Glacier
Rocks cover some glaciers.
Not all glaciers are white; most have gathered rocks that cover the ice as they move. These are called rock glaciers, and the rocks protect the ice from melting. Under the stones is ice, which once was snow. The one place we saw this, which was so obvious, was when we visited the Kennecott mine. In case you missed it, here is a link to the story. Kennecott died
On tidewater glaciers like the John Hopkins Glacier, there is an exposed icy cliff face and a submerged cliff face above the water. When the ice breaks off from the glacier’s face, it can be from above the waterline crashing into the water or from below shooting to the surface without warning. Meltwater from the glacier is discharged from submarine tunnels under the glacier’s face or from meltwater creeks next to the glacier’s edge.
History of Glacier Bay
Early explorers probably visited the glacier at Glacier Bay, but at that time, it was a small bay at the terminus of a vast glacier. Neither explorer would have called it Glacier Bay, and in fact, it may not have been a bay but rather just an ice wall. We now call the glacier that these explorers saw the Grand Pacific Glacier, and the Grand Pacific Glacier carved glacier bay over the previous 20,000 years.
There are more than 1,000 glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, including the tidewater glaciers and other alpine glaciers high in the mountains.
Grand Pacific Glacier
I can’t remember anyone even mentioning the words Grand Pacific Glacier during our visit. The Grand Pacific Glacier carved Glacier Bay. It wasn’t named until John Muir decided to name it. By the time Muir saw it, it had already retreated at least 65 miles, which had been the case since it was first seen by explorers less than a hundred years before Muir’s naming.
As we were sailing to the head of Glacier Bay, we were heading directly towards the Grand Pacific Glacier. Still, the splendor of the Margerie Glacier had already stolen the show. Margerie Glacier was still a tidewater glacier, and the Grand Pacific Glacier had retreated far enough to have its terminus on land. The Margerie Glacier has a brilliant white tidewater terminus, and the Grand Pacific Glacier is covered by rock.
The Grand Pacific Glacier was the combined glacier of numerous glaciers and carved Glacier Bay. The Grand Pacific Glacier included every glacier pictured in this article. As the Grand Pacific Glacier retreated, it left Glacier Bay as it melted. The glaciers we now see in Glacier Bay are the remnants of the Grand Pacific Glacier. According to satellite data, Grand Pacific Glacier’s flow rate is approximately 0.5-1 foot per day.
The Grand Pacific Glacier now terminates on land at the head of Glacier Bay. The ice is still there, but it is entirely covered by rock. The closest glacier to the Grand Pacific Glacier, which still has exposed ice, is the Margerie Glacier.
Margerie Glacier
Johns Hopkins Glacier
The Johns Hopkins Glacier is now the biggest tidewater glacier in Glacier Bay. Two hundred years ago, it was one of the glaciers that fed the Grand Pacific Glacier. The Johns Hopkins Glacier is about 1 mile wide and 225-300 feet high at the terminus.
The Lamplugh Glacier
Lamplugh Glacier is on the inlet to John Hopkins inlet. It is 0.9 miles wide, 165 feet high at the face, and over 19 miles long. Its flow rate is approximately 0.75 – 1 foot per day. The terminus is now grounded on the Lamplugh Glacier, and saltwater only reaches the ice face at high tides.
Advancing glaciers
As global temperatures increase, most glaciers are getting smaller, retreating, and thinner. Glaciers have been melting since the end of the last ice age (about 10,000 years ), and the melting seems to have accelerated in the previous hundred years.
Most, but not all, glaciers are retreating, but some are advancing and getting thicker. Tidewater glaciers melt due to a combination of water temperatures and exposure. Glaciers with a land terminus only melt due to exposure. Rock glaciers like the Grand Pacific Glacier are insulated from exposure due to the covering of rocks and melt slower than exposed glaciers.
How do glaciers advance?
Glaciers advance because of gravity and additional snowfall at the ice field above the glacier. All glaciers move downhill. Unlike liquid water, glaciers also advance because the weight of the snowpack above the glacier pushes the ice flow downhill. Sometimes, if the slope isn’t sufficient to cause the glacier’s advance, it will spread out over a large area after it flows downhill. This kind of glacier is called a Piedmont Glacier.
During the last two hundred years, the Grand Pacific Glacier has retreated to the point that it is no longer a tidewater glacier. If the Grand Pacific Glacier had remained at the Sitakday Narrows, Glacier Bay would have been solid ice. The fact is, however, that not all the glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park are retreating. For the last fifty years, the Grand Pacific Glacier has been advancing toward the ocean at the head of Glacier Bay.
The John Hopkins Glacier retreated from 1909 to 1929 but has advanced from 1929 to its present location today.
Lituya Glacier, starting at the Brady Icefield, terminates on dry land before it reaches Lituya Bay and has been advancing for decades.
In Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (north of Glacier Bay and near Valdez), the Hubbard Glacier is advancing towards the ocean. It is the biggest tidewater glacier in North America. It calves enormous icebergs into the Pacific Ocean, and with a terminus that is 6 miles wide, it is growing and advancing into the ocean.
Wildlife at Glacier Bay
Harbor seals were the most common wildlife we saw at glaciers. However, their numbers have declined rapidly inside the park. Although no active pods of Killer Whales live in the park, they have been seen frequently and are one reason for the decline in Harbor Seal populations. Since 1992, the seal population in Glacier Bay has dropped by 75%.
Harbor Seals haul out of the water to rest and give birth on the small icebergs. Another theory is that the icebergs are smaller, and fast boats create large waves, disturbing the seals. Our cruise ship had to maintain a slow speed, and only two cruise ships could visit the park deep in the day.
Sea Otters were also common in the park. They eat and sleep while lying on their backs, making them easy prey for Killer Whales when sleeping.
We were looking for but didn’t spot any bears or mountain goats during our visit to Glacier Bay. They are there, but the bigger ships spend time further away from shore, so spotting them is difficult.
We didn’t see any whales at Glacier Bay National Park, but they are also frequent visitors, especially in the spring. The ocean water in the bay mixes with the fresh water from the glaciers, feeding a perfect food chain for whales. We saw a few whales outside the park, and like most visitors, this next photo was what we had hoped to see. This next photo was from a National Geographic Magazine website and looks nothing like the photos of the whales I took on our cruise.
Please subscribe and join us on our journey.
We will add you to our email list and send you updates once a week. Here is a link. Subscribe
About our links
As you know, our blog income is zero, which allows us to be independent and tell the truth. We do not get income or commissions. No, we don’t make paid endorsements. We don’t make recommendations; instead, we will tell you what we like (or dislike). The links are only provided as a quick reference to help our readers.
Links
FoxRVTravel link Deep into the ice flows at the Columbia Glacier.
FoxRVTravel link Going up to the Matanuska Glacier
FoxRVTravel link Kennecott died
Visiting Glacier Bay National Park on a cruise ship
What’s So Special About Glacier Bay?
About Comments
We love seeing your comments, but they are not automatic. I get about twenty spam comments every day, and thus, I have to turn off automatic comments. I read and then publish every comment personally to protect the blog and keep it on the subject and real. So this means that you will not see your comment right after you hit submit. Sorry for the delay in publishing your comments. Please know that we would love to hear from you.
It sounds like you guys came at Alaska from just about every angle! Smart and fun.
The research you both do to write such great articles must be huge,
very educational about glaciers.
We got to go a couple years ago (just before covid) and it was amazing! Glad you had fun!
I was reading your article on the cruise to Glacier Bay National Park. Brenda and I want to see Glacier Bay NP. We specifically want to see the wildlife and beautiful scenic Alaska. However, I want to avoid driving great distances on less-than-ideal roads. Also, I would rather avoid seeing tourism created to attract people to specific locations. I can read about the history of Alaska and the gold rush period. We would like your thoughts on what and what not to see. I look forward to talking more.
One way to visit is to fly to Anchorage, rent a car, and stop at roadside motels. Just don’t expect five-star accommodations. Another possible and highly recommended location would be Valdez. Once you get to town from the airport, it is very authentic.
I am always amazed at the perspective you bring to your travels – learning the history and basic science has always been the most appealing attributes. But the photos of you both in the settings and the joy you are experiencing and sharing puts us there next to you vicariously. This is the charm and the pleasure I experience from reading your blogs. So valuable.
My process may be interesting. Tami decides where we go once we are at a stop. I haven’t researched anything about the attraction, but I will wait until after I see it to do any research. Then, I try to find out what details would be interesting to present in the blog. This may be the hard way, but it seems to work.