R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 153

Cruising Portage Lake and Getting Close to Portage Glacier

Statues of Ice (310mm)

The MV Ptarmigan gets very close to Portage Glacier, much closer that the Norwegian Sun got to either Margerie or Hubbard.

Beautiful blues (330mm)

This proximity allows for some spectacular closeups of glacial ice and its incredible bluish tints.

Beautiful blues (330mm)

Just how close did we get? Most of the photos below were taken at the 35mm equivalent of between 150 and 200mm. Some were shot at an equivalent of 330mm, and only one was taken at my Panasonic FZ1000’s m...

Traveling the Kenai Peninsula to Portage Glacier

Portage Glacier at the south end of Portage Lake

We disembarked from the Norwegian Sun at Seward, Alaska, on Monday, June 6. Our good friends Al and Lisa Fittipaldi, Ursula, and I snagged our rather expensive rental and started the drive north along the Kenai Peninsula headed for Anchorage. But we had two stops to make along the way. One stop was a detour to Whittier — charming, but not worth an entire blog post. Before Whittier, however, we would stop at the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center on P...

Fun Photo Friday — Hubbard Glacier Favorites

Falling Ice along a six-mile wide glacial wall

Today I present some of my favorite photos of the Hubbard Glacier. Here’s today’s slide show:

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation Tagged: Alaska, Alaska cruise, Fun Photo Friday, glaciers, Hubbard Glacier, Norwegian Sun, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel photography, vacation

Norwegian Sun Continues at Hubbard Glacier

Mount Seattle in background — 10,070 feet/3,069 meters

Hubbard Glacier is an active, advancing sheet of ice. Icebergs breaking off the face of Hubbard Glacier and crashing into Disenchantment Bay can exceed ten stories. You’ll see a video I took of one such event next week.

Wall of Blue

The ice at the face of Hubbard Glacier took some 400 years to arrive here, much of it originating some 76 miles/122 kilometers away from its present location.

Hubbard Glacier

This primary source for Hubbard Gl...

The Norwegian Sun at the Hubbard Glacier

Hubbard Glacier — Six Miles Wide

This is one destination Ursula and I had never visited in our previous five cruises to Alaska — Disenchantment Bay and the Hubbard Glacier. The Hubbard Glacier wall is actually two glaciers that merge about six miles northeast of the bay. The much smaller and narrower Valerie Glacier is pictured in the image below. The boundary between Valerie and Hubbard is the dark area (moriane) on the right side of the image. The moraine on the left is debris scoured by Va...

The Norwegian Sun Cruises Glacier Bay

Lamplugh Glacier

Margerie Glacier is just one of the glaciers you’ll visit here in Glacier Bay, but it’s also the closest you’ll come to one. After leaving Tarr Inlet the Norwegian Sun turned up the John Hopkins Inlet. Along the way you’ll coast past the Lamplugh Glacier depicted above. We didn’t get very close, but I was able to make good use of my 400mm (35mm equivalent) telephoto to capture some good shots of it.

Lamplugh Glacier

Unfortunately you won’t get very close to John Hopkins Glaci...

The Norwegian Sun Explores Margerie Glacier

Glacier Bay — Margerie Glacier

The Norwegian Sun spent well over an hour very close to the face of the Margerie Glacier, slowly rotating to give viewers stunning views from both sides of the ship.

Glacier Bay — Margerie Glacier

This means that if you have a balcony cabin then there is no need to go above decks to get marvelous views. Just hang out on your balcony and click away.

Glacier Bay — Margerie Glacier

Make sure you stand ready to catch ice falling into the waters. This makes for some...

Norwegian Sun Enters Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay — Approaching Margerie Glacier

The glaciers of Alaska are incredible sights. And the glacier you’ll get closest to on any cruise is Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. As you approach Margerie Glacier you’ll be greeted by myriad waterfalls cascading into the bay.

Waterfalls in Glacier Bay

Waterfalls in Glacier Bay

Early in the season you’ll also see unmelted snowfields flowing down vegetation-covered bedrock and exposed granite. These photos were taken very...

Fun Photo Friday — Alaskan Glacier Preview

Glacier Bay

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be showing you scenes of Alaskan Glaciers, including Portage Glacier, Hubbard Glacier, and Mendenhall Glacier. Below is a preview of some of the more stunning images from this trip. Click on any image to enlarge and bring up today’s slide show.

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation Tagged: Alaska, Alaska cruise, Fun Photo Friday, glaciers, Norwegian Sun, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel...

Skipping Ahead — Anchorage, Glacier Brewhouse, and the Road to Talkeetna

Road to Talkeetna

Starting next week we’ll be taking a look at the glaciers of Alaska, including some stunning video of gigantic chunks of ice calving off glacier walls and crashing into the chilled Alaskan waters below. But first I’m going to skip ahead a bit to our trip after we departed the Norwegian Sun.

Anchorage

Anchorage

I’ve done blog posts on Anchorage before, as you can see here (link to: Anchorage). As such, I’m going concentrate instead on our favorite Anchorage eating establishme...