Trifter

During the spring and summer of 1899, a railroad magnate named Edward Henry Harriman organized an expedition to explore the plant and animal life of Alaska. 

Among its many accomplishments, The Harriman Alaska Expedition discovered a vast fjord in the northern section of Prince William Sound.  There are many glaciers in the fjord, all lined up one after another in what resembles a never-ending spectacle of enormous ice ribbons. The explorers wanted to find a way to link each glacier with the whole. They decided to name many of the glaciers after prominent East Coast colleges – and the totality came to be known as the College Fjord. 

The first of the newly discovered glaciers were named after the schools that had representatives on the expedition – Harvard and Amherst.  They were followed by other elite schools – some of which helped to fund the expedition – Yale, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley.  Columbia and Dartmouth also have glacier namesakes, but they are not actually located in College Fjord.  Conspicuous in its absence is a Princeton Glacier.

This is a picture of the Harvard Glacier that covers over 100,000 acres of the Chugach National Forest.  It is the second largest glacier in Prince William Sound and is located at the end of the College Fjord.  It is 1.5 miles wide and about 300 feet high at the point where it calves icebergs into the water. 

The appearance of the glaciers changes with the time of day and weather.  This photo was taken about 6 a.m. when daybreak was magically painting the natural surroundings in dreamlike shadows and hues.

The Harvard Glacier is frequently the northernmost point visited by the cruise ships sailing the Inside Passage of Alaska.  Another popular route takes passengers to Glacier Bay.  Either destination is inspiring.  

Because the members of The Harriman Expedition took hundreds of photos of glaciers, Mr. Harriman is credited with providing significant visual comparisons of how the great glaciers have changed over the course of the last century.

Click on these additional titles for information about cruising the Inside Passage of Alaska and the interesting ports of call.

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