For your 45th Birthday - you really are "Denali Bound" - Complete w/final thoughts - 2/17/2013 - Page 15 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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AK is a wonderful state. I see the weather is still very unpredictable. You were adventurous to start the hike. I think that I would have changed my mind as soon as I saw the registration point. That is to know who to go looking for when the count doesn't check out. Great that you didn't go all the way into the river. Hyperthermia is not something to play around with.
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Glacier Hike - Attempt #2
We kept driving south – stopping along the way including pulling over at the pass where the highway enters the Kenai Peninsula. There was a still lot of snow piled up all around. We took a biological break and continued on.
We also stopped for some roadside waterfalls.
George and Rachel at one of the roadside waterfalls
We also stopped on the shores of the Copper River for a bit and took some photos. We continued south and passed Kenai Lake – which was beautiful, but the typical grey/green color that you see in Alaskan glacial fed lakes. Our next stop was Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. I had visited here and hiked to the glacier with colleagues in 2009. Much to my dismay, the visitor's center was still closed... but the trail was open and we even met a couple of Rangers hiking on the trail.
This glacier has a paved trail for parts of the area, and an unpaved, rocky trail for part – almost all of the area was still covered in snow and ice. It was Memorial Day and there were still a couple of feet of snow on parts of the trail to the Glacier.
Chris and I had decided from the beginning we were going to hike to the Glacier, George decided to sleep in the minivan and Rachel decided to walk one of the other flatter trails that went to a glacier overlook.
Along the trail are date markers - showing where the glacier was on that date. And what was interesting me was to see how developed the environment was at each date sign, showing the development of the ecosystem since the glacier retreated.
Chris walking on the trails
An informational hut along the trail with signage about the glacier and the Harding icefield, which is where the Exit Glacier originates.
Chris fell on the trail while hiking....
He couldn't believe I took a photo of him as he fell.
And he fell again... #2
This is where the glacier was in 1961 - see how grown up the trees are??
And now we left the cover of the grown trees and came onto the rock path that was uncovered by the glacier.
Looking out over the U shaped valley carved by the glacier.
Can you see the scrapes in the rock? This is where the glacier drug across the rock while carrying other rocks, scraping gouges into the rock on the bottom.
First glimpse of the glacier
Exit Glacier
The blue ice in the crevasses of the glacier
More scraped rock right near the front of the glacier.
Panoramic view of Exit Glacier
Toe of the glacier
Me standing next to the glacier
A man saw Chris taking photos of me, and offered to take a photo of us... it wasn't the best photo, but it will have to do.
After we finished taking photos, we hiked down to the toe of the glacier, where the glacier fed stream begins and the moraine from the retreating glacier is.
Down in the valley, crossing the stream
Chris decided that instead of hiking back up to the glacier to return to the parking lot, we should hike across the outwash plane, cross the stream and take the trail to the overlook.
And as Chris tried to cross the stream... he fell... again - #3.
Good thing for waterproof boots!
After our hike - we woke George up, listened to Rachel tell us about her hike and continued our drive down to Seward for dinner...
Next - Dinner at Rays, a return ride to Anchorage and a visit with Mr. Potter.
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I found a few of Rachel's photos -
Me at the roadside waterfall....
Hubby taking photos at Copper River... I was cold and snuggled up to hubs.
Snow on the overlook trail at Exit Glacier
Rachel on the trail - self portrait... look at those rosy checks!!
Nature Center Pavilion at Kenai Fjords National Park
And this was how Dr. Perry spent his Alaska vacation...
Fantastic photos of the glacier. You really can see so much history of the landscape in one photo. I love the photo of the darker rocks in the foreground and the glacier peeping through--you can almost feel the movement as it creeps along.
Great update. Lover the pix. It took us forever to drive to Seward through the Kenai. Gorgeous. The rate at which the glaciers are disappearing is truly alarming
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Dinner in Seward and a drive back to Anchorage
After we finished our hiking at Exit Glacier - we loaded back into the minivan and completed our drive to Seward. It was about dinner time, and since we still had a 2+ hour drive back to Anchorage, we opted to get dinner and not do any exploring of Seward.
We ate at Ray's on the waterfront in the Seward Small boat Marina. It was cool and rainy - so I opted for warm food. I started with a clam chowder -
Followed by FRESH Copper River Salmon - YUMMY!!
And I finished with creme brulee.
I have NO Idea what anyone else ate - I was too busy enjoying my food and trying to warm up...
But I did notice what Rachel had for dessert -
I love the look George is giving her....
After dinner - George was complaining his back was hurting and he wanted to go lay down in the car, Rachel wanted to go shopping and Chris wanted to take photos in the marina. I opted to go with George because I was cold.
Here are some of Chris' photos from the marina -
And he found this cute guy swimming around -
The otter looks like he was eating his dinner too!
After everyone returned to the car, we made a beeline back toward Anchorage - with minimal stops on the way. However, as we reached the outskirts of Anchorage - we saw Potter Marsh - and decided to stop. Potter Marsh is a large freshwater marsh on the southern side of Anchorage where large numbers of birds are known to come between April - September. The Marsh was formed when the train tracks between Anchorage and Seward were constructed, which dammed off a small freshwater stream that drained into the Turnagain Arm.
There is a large network of wooden walkways that you can use to access different areas of the Marsh. When we got there - we had about an hour before it closed for the night. We arrived there about 8pm and it closed at 9pm. It was cold and very windy - but everyone was game to see what we could see.
Ducks on the bank of the marsh
A sandhill crane. We heard him fly in, and sqwack... and then he was joined by another crane and they talked to each other over the marsh.
Magpie in the tree behind us.
Panoramic view of Potter Marsh
George and Rachel on the walkway
Water exchange pies under the railroad tracks
Rachel and George got cold, and Chris and I kept walking out to the end of the boardwalk.
Looking back toward the city across the marsh. In the summer they say this area is just covered with birds.
You can't tell - but the wind is blowing and I am FREEZING!!
And now you can see how cold Chris is too - glad we brought the tripod.
We walked back to the car, loaded up and headed back to the hotel for the night. We needed to pack up all our stuff - because tomorrow morning we load up and head to the ship!!!
Next - Retracing our path and visiting a wildlife refuge...
That otter is so cute! I love the way the mist covers the higher peaks and then floats away and suddenly the view is completely different! I never tired of watching this on the cruise. I hope it was nice and warm in your hotel rooms so you could get the chill out of your bones!
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I had visited here and hiked to the glacier with colleagues in 2009. Much to my dismay, the visitor's center was still closed... but the trail was open and we even met a couple of Rangers hiking on the trail.
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