Kayaking at Hubbard Glacier, the Biggest Tidewater Glacier in North America

Huge calving at the face of Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America.

Today was a pretty fun bit of expedition cruising. We brought the Safari Explorer, the 36 passenger expedition ship that I work on, into Disenchantment Bay, near Yakutat, Alaska. At the end of the bay, North America's largest tidewater glacier dominates the landscape. Snaking its way 75 miles out from the St. Elias Mountains, the glacier ends in a massive 6 mile wide calving face. The only word I can think to describe it is, 'immense'. I have been here on bigger, international ships before, and had taken people through the ice up to the glacier in zodiacs, but today was going to be different. Instead of being here with 500 people, I was here with 33. And I was going to take a handful of them on the kayak adventure of a lifetime.

Turner glacier also empties into the bay in the back left, and my plan was to kayak in front of Turner, then do a big loop to end in front of Hubbard. We paddled our way through the ice flows to Turner, which was dropping chunks of ice in the water quite often. Hubbard was off to our right, doing the same. The thundering sound of these huge chunks of ice calving hundreds of feet to the water below made it sound like we were in the middle of a storm. It was nature's best IMAX, in surround sound.

We tried to turn and head towards Hubbard, but in the end, we had to paddle straight back out, then take a hard turn towards Hubbard once we were free of the ice. The weather stayed amazing all morning for us. We finished our kayak in front of the 6 mile face of Hubbard Glacier. It was awe inspiring. Call it a big success for our first ever kayak at Hubbard.

After kayaking through ice near the glacier, we had a warm reception back aboard from our bartender Annalea, who had made hot mulled wine for the guests.

Panorama of a portion of the massive Hubbard Glacier.

Team kayak, after we returned, for a celebratory photo on the bow of the safari explorer, with Hubbard Glacier in the background.

Part of the Safari Explorer team, Marisa, Annalea, and myself.

Looking through the cut that is sometimes closed off by advancing ice from Hubbard Glacier.

Our guests on a skiff tour in front of Hubbard Glacier.

I had to take a pic of this wild iceberg as we paddle past it. That is Turner Glacier in the background.

The currents were wild here at Turner and Hubbard Glacier. I've never seen anyone kayak here before, but we did! The ice flows would swirl and close in around us. Luckily they never got too compacted, so we always managed to break free and find a path out.

Heading out through the ice from Turner Glacier in Disenchantment Bay.

We had really nice conditions for our kayak, although there was a lot of floating ice to navigate.

Team Kayak, feeling strong! This was the very first UnCruise guided kayak adventure at Hubbard Glacier.

Close up view of Turner Glacier, just to the left of Hubbard Glacier. There was a lot of calving activity from both glaciers today.

You can just see the top of the Safari Explorer in the background, as my kayaking group makes their way around some sizeable chunks of ice.

Early morning light on some floating ice, with Hubbard Glacier in the background.

As always, keep traveling and keep posting!

• Dai Mar