Exit Glacier - Kenai Fjords National Park

We had glorious weather all day. The young Russians (well one was Ukrainian) who cleaned the B&B Doug stayed in in Seward said that they were going to see the bears at Bear Creek. So before Exit Glacier we went to see. J and Doug saw them, I heard them splashing.



Then back to the Exit Glacier Road. Here's the first real glimpse of the glacier as you drive in. I'm going to dig out our 1984 pictures and do some comparisons. But for now, here's today.
Everything is changed since we were last there - we're guessing 2003. There are new buildings, new signs, and the trails are different. But most noticable is the missing glacier. Well, yes, it's still there, but much less of it. Again this will be more obvious when I find old pictures. But as we got closer, I said to Doug, it feels like it used to be all the way to here. Then Doug read the sign - in 1999 you could touch the glacier from here. That's less than ten years!



Our goal was to go up the Harding Icefield trail at least to the point where we could see the icefield. The trail is better, but still difficult. At the beginning there are steep rocky spots. Here's one part of the trail that is not only steep and rocky, but also a small stream.


We ran into these two rangers with clipboards. They are observing hikers to see where they go and find out why - they are trying to keep people on the main trails and save the vegetation elsewhere. They said last year about 10,000 people climbed this trail, the most ever. And it was very busy today, much more so than I've ever seen it. On a Wednesday, but they said days of the week didn't seem to matter nor did weather. People were there when their travel schedules got them there and they hiked. I'd guess most of the hikers are there June, July, and August. So if there were 9000 hikers in those three months, it would be 3000 per month, or 100 a day. I'm guessing there were over 100 today on the trail. We were constantly seeing people coming back.

Here's a shot of the ridge on the other side of the Glacier from us.

Here's Doug taking a short rest on what I decided was his throne,

Here's J, taking a nap at the top - well, our top. The trail continued on. It wasn't totally clear how far we got. The trail to the end on the map (see below) is 7.8 miles with a gain of elevation of about 3000 feet. That gain is evenly divided. I was watching how all of us were going and thought that this was the best view for the energy output we were going to get and still make it back in time to stop at Double Musky. I have to say it was spectacular up there with views of the Harding Icefield, Exit Glacier, the valleys below, and the mountains all around. In the warmth of the sun. With a chilly wind off the icefield. I could have stayed there forever.

Here's one of the marmots that guard the trail.

Here's a tiny taste of the panorama I mentioned above. To the right would be Exit Glacier (you can see part of it on the right) and the Harding Icefield above. That view is in the previous picture. You can double click this picture to enlarge it somewhat. What a day.


These two pictures are looking down onto Exit Glacier. In the top picture you can see five or six people hiking on the glacier in the lower left.

I know I had a similar picture already, but it was so spectacular. Those are mountain peaks sticking out of the sea of ice. The Harding Icefield stretches 30 miles.

Here's the trail map. You can enlarge it. I think we got somewhere between Top of the Cliff and the Emergency Shelter. It would be nice if they had some trail markers along the way to let you know where you were compared to the map.

Here's the RV parking lot back down at the bottom again. You could see this along with the cars from way up on top.

This was the Harding Icefield trail up along the side of Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park just a few miles out of Seward.