Again, back in September, not soon after getting back from Mexico, I had a big trip planned. Jason was meeting me up in Anchorage. I followed up the morning of the 19. We had checked bags full of gear, and cheap food from the grocery store to eat.
I arrived late morning, and we got checked into my motel room at the Millennium Hotel. I would be up here later for training, so I just came up early to do some traveling.
We really didn't do much that day except relax and sleep, after long flights from Boise. We used our coffee maker to get hot water for our noodles.
In the morning, one of Jason's friends that lives up in Anchorage came and picked us up. He had offered to drive so we wouldn't have to rent a car, to drive down to Exit Glacier, near Seward. So after stopping at a store to get some butane fuel for my stove, we set off. It was about a 3 hour drive down to Seward, through some really pretty country. We drove along the Turnagin arm, and then down across the Kenai Peninsula.
It was pretty chilly, and it had been raining off and on. The humidty was high as well. The three of us fooled around on the easy foot paths at the mouth of the glacier, before starting the 4 mile hike up to the top of the trail/ridge where we would see a view of the Harding Ice Field.
For a while we didn't get good views. But after we cleared the tree line we started to get better glimpses of Exit Glacier, as we gained height. I believe it was about 1000 feet of elevation gained for every mile of trail. It was pretty steep.
As we got closer to the top the view began to open up and we could see the glacier getting wider.
The view from the top was pretty incredible. I can only imagine how much better it would have looked on a gorgeous clear day. I won't complain though. It would be fun to traverse the ice field, like some groups of people do.
We rested at the Emergency Shelter at the top of the trail. We pulled out my stove, and we boiled water for some meals, stocked up on calories, and then eventually started the hike back down. We drove into Seward to see the town, and we also got to see somebody's boat burning in the harbor, as well as a baby moose alongside the road.
We got back to Anchorage late. I was able to mostly stay awake and talk with Jason's friend. We had been planning on flying up to Barrow in the morning, but we decided to switch that trip to another day. Instead, we would sleep in a bit and try to make it up to Fairbanks. We wanted to fly on Horizon's flights they operate between Fairbanks and Anchorage, now.
