Wow! Doesn’t that look amazing? Hiking right up steps carved into the ice?! Well, too bad that’s not us. Our hike today did not involve crampons or ice helmets. Although there was one section that required somewhat decent balancing skills.
The Exit Glacier is the only area of Kenai Fjords National Park that you can access by car. There’s an easy hike to the terminus of the glacier, but the actual ice area was roped off so we couldn’t walk right up to it and touch it, which was disappointing. However, there was a more challenging trail leading up about 1200 feet to an overlook of the whole glacier. The views all along the trail were pretty great, and the katabatic winds coming off the glacier kept us cool for most of the hike.
A local company will guide you out onto the ice (for a fee, of course). They offer two options: a glacier hike, or an ice climbing excursion. If you look closely at the photo below, you’ll see the ice climbers in the lower left corner. They look like tiny bugs. We took a close up shot, too, in case you don’t want to strain your eyes. Ice climbing looked pretty fun; we’ll have to try it sometime. (The glacier walks/climbing excursions are supposed to be cheaper in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, so we are waiting ‘til we get there to give it a try).
The Exit Glacier is one of many fed by the Harding Ice Field, which stretches across 200 square miles of the Kenai Mountains. Like most of the world’s glaciers, Exit is receding. It’s losing ground at a rate of about 100 feet per year.
Well, we’ve had enough of glaciers for a while, how about you guys? Are you getting tired of seeing countless photos like this one?
Yeah, I thought so. Well, tomorrow we are going to start heading further down the peninsula towards Homer (D’oh!) to see if we can find some salmon somewhere along the way. We are too late for the king salmon run, but maybe we can get in on the sockeye or silver runs. Wish us luck!
Kraskey facts about Alaska: Steve's Dad helped build the ALCAN highway. A few years later, the family transitted the highway twice when his Dad was in the Army Air Corp. During the first tour, drum roll please, Steve was born...Alaska was still a territory. During the second tour, thanks to some locals at the Salty Dog Saloon in Homer, Steve had his first beer and cigarette (9 years old). Have a drink at the saloon when you get to Homer. Whether or not you also have a cigarette is completely up to you ;) Thanks for the memories!
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not at all surprised by that story? :) We will for sure be stopping in at the Salty Dog Saloon when we get down to Homer and we'll be sure to toast Steve (and you) with a beer (or two)!
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