Hiking Exit Glacier
Alaska Travelog #17
Kenai Fjords National Park - Mon, 17 Jun 2024, 1:30pm
We have a big hike ahead of us today- to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. Ordinarily this is the sort of thing where we'd get up early in the morning and get going early to make sure there's enough daylight. But with Alaska's ridiculous long summer days, plus being only about 10 miles away, we didn't sweat it. We relaxed in our hotel room while there was a heavy fog this morning then got lunch in town (no, not pizza a fifth time!) before heading into the park.
As we drove up into the park from Seward the fog thinned out. It wasn't so much that the fog was burning off for the day as that it was concentrated around the bay. The cruise crewmember was right yesterday when they called it a convective fog. It's a phenomenon created by warm air over cold water. Ergo, get away from the water and you get away from the fog. By the time we reached the first viewpoint for Exit Glacier we were completely out of the fog.
This is a long-distance view of Exit Glacier. It's the low spot in between those two mountains. The scale can be a bit difficult to understand from a picture... the mountain on the left is just over 4,000' high, the right just over 4,500'. The top of the glacier's ice field, the low part in the middle, is 2400' elevation. And the outwash plain at our feet is 300-400' above sea level.
Exit Glacier wasn't always this small. At the height of the last Ice Age, 23,000 years ago, the glacier covered everything in view, including both mountains. Even 200 years ago the glacier was much bigger than it is today. 200 years ago the foot of the glacier was basically right in front of where I stood for this photo.
But hey, let's get on with the hike!
Well, okay, before we got on with the hike we stopped at the visitors center. We always do that to check conditions, get suggestions on things to watch for or other places to visit, and, of course, to buy hawk and sheep toys if we see any. They only had a scruffy eagle and a small sheep that we already own a bigger version of.
Here we are again on the trail. As you can see in the photo it starts off easily. It's a paved, gently sloped path. This is the "bunny slope" part of the trail that everyone hikes, including the cruise ship tourists who just waddled off the activity bus and are complaining about the lack of a McDonald's in Seward.
Here's another view of the lower part of the trail. I'm pleasantly surprised I found a moment with nobody in the frame.
That "1926" marker in the lower right corner of the photo indicates that just 98 years ago the glacier came down to here. Yeah, today you can't even see the glacier from here. The toe of the glacier is over a mile away and now this spot is a temperate rain forest.
Kenai Fjords National Park - Mon, 17 Jun 2024, 1:30pm
We have a big hike ahead of us today- to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. Ordinarily this is the sort of thing where we'd get up early in the morning and get going early to make sure there's enough daylight. But with Alaska's ridiculous long summer days, plus being only about 10 miles away, we didn't sweat it. We relaxed in our hotel room while there was a heavy fog this morning then got lunch in town (no, not pizza a fifth time!) before heading into the park.
As we drove up into the park from Seward the fog thinned out. It wasn't so much that the fog was burning off for the day as that it was concentrated around the bay. The cruise crewmember was right yesterday when they called it a convective fog. It's a phenomenon created by warm air over cold water. Ergo, get away from the water and you get away from the fog. By the time we reached the first viewpoint for Exit Glacier we were completely out of the fog.
This is a long-distance view of Exit Glacier. It's the low spot in between those two mountains. The scale can be a bit difficult to understand from a picture... the mountain on the left is just over 4,000' high, the right just over 4,500'. The top of the glacier's ice field, the low part in the middle, is 2400' elevation. And the outwash plain at our feet is 300-400' above sea level.
Exit Glacier wasn't always this small. At the height of the last Ice Age, 23,000 years ago, the glacier covered everything in view, including both mountains. Even 200 years ago the glacier was much bigger than it is today. 200 years ago the foot of the glacier was basically right in front of where I stood for this photo.
But hey, let's get on with the hike!
Well, okay, before we got on with the hike we stopped at the visitors center. We always do that to check conditions, get suggestions on things to watch for or other places to visit, and, of course, to buy hawk and sheep toys if we see any. They only had a scruffy eagle and a small sheep that we already own a bigger version of.
Here we are again on the trail. As you can see in the photo it starts off easily. It's a paved, gently sloped path. This is the "bunny slope" part of the trail that everyone hikes, including the cruise ship tourists who just waddled off the activity bus and are complaining about the lack of a McDonald's in Seward.
Here's another view of the lower part of the trail. I'm pleasantly surprised I found a moment with nobody in the frame.
That "1926" marker in the lower right corner of the photo indicates that just 98 years ago the glacier came down to here. Yeah, today you can't even see the glacier from here. The toe of the glacier is over a mile away and now this spot is a temperate rain forest.