Alaskan Glaciers

On our trip to Juneau, we had the good fortune to see several glaciers for the very first time. The most famous glacier in Juneau is the Mendenhall Glacier, which the Forest Service maintains several trails to, as well as, a visitor center.

We hiked the trail to the glacier, passing a tremendous waterfall, Nugget Falls, and were able to get within 50 yards of the ice block. We were told that the Mendenhall Glacier has been receding for many years, where several decades ago we would have been able to touch it from where we were standing.

Huge blocks of ice drifted slowly through the water away from the glacier, gradually melting away into the channel. The range of color from bright white to dark blue was amazing, with the darkest colors being where the most recent chunk of ice separated from the larger mass.

Later in the week we got to see the same glacier in the distance over a field of purple fire-weed. Fire-weed flowers from the bottom up, and the locals told us that they know summer is almost over once the top of the plant is flowering.

On a short boat excursion we passed by Herbert Glacier (below), which was quite impressive. This glacier is part of the same Juneau Icefield as the Mendenhall Glacer, with the Mendenhall on the west side of the icefield, and Herbert north of that.

Someday I would love to revisit the Juneau Icefield, and actually hike up to and onto the glacier to explore the various ice caves and habitat. Comments welcome!