Its pretty fucking cold out. Its not snowing quite yet, but the rain, drizzle and wind make it pretty miserable. I was really hoping that for my hike today to the Mendenhall Glacier would have had better weather, but lets face it - Alaska isn’t known for its warm and sunny weather. I strapped my backpack on and walked with my guide to the trailhead. I tried keeping a stiff upper lip and to man up through the miserable, frigid cold.
My guide was Kellie and she has had years of hiking/survivalist experience. She mentioned as we walked closer to the trailhead that she organizes outdoor survival camps for kids coming for troubled homes at her year around home in Montana. She does lots of these charity things for kids and it is immediately apparent that it is something she is passionate about.
As we starting up the trail she pointed out some bear scat (poop), which she mentioned is common in this area. The bears I guess come and munch on the salmon (which are still currently running) that go upstream to spawn. She assured me that she had some bear spray with her and that she knows the procedure to defend us from a grizzly bear charge. After she tells a story about how some hikers that were recently attacked by a Grizzly, and I’m starting for get slightly nervous as the trail starts getting deeper and deeper into the forest.
The forest floor is very wet and covered with moss, lychens and berries which I guess were edible since Kellie just scooped up a few as we were walking past and just popped a few in her mouth. The trees were massive Sitka and Alder trees that shot straight into the air and covered the skyline that took most of the rainfall that was coming down upon us. The moss that covered much of the ground, looked a lot like a pea-soup green shag carpet. It was so abundant and thriving, that often it climbed up the trees trunks and onto a few of its lower branches.
When we finally got to some higher elevation, we were able to see some of the neighboring hills and rivers. The smeared grey sky set an eerie backdrop for the river and mountains. Kellie said that its days like this that the ice from the glacier tends to glow a deeper blue than usual. Excited by this, I pressed on further.
Unfortunately, the higher in elevation we got, the colder it started to get. I realized that my long sleeve shirt and windbreaker were not enough; especially when you are starting to get soaked. I tried keeping my hands in my pocket for warmth, but water started getting in them and it only made it worse. I tried to keep my mind off of it but it became more and more difficult as we gained elevation.
Finally we reached the top and were able to over look the vast land of Juneau’s rain forest. It really was like something out of a National Geographic special. In the river you could see little blue icebergs that had broken off the Mendenhall glacier and were slowly drifting away. We were on the wrong side of the mountain to the glacier yet, so after a little rest break, we headed down the other side of the mountain to get a better look at it.
It only took about 15 minutes down the mountain will we came to a look out for the Mendenhall Glacier. It was really an awesome sight. The massive slab of ice, which had to be several hundred feet high and probably a half-mile wide, indeed glowed a sky blue, which seemed serial. Never in all my years of getting ice out of the freezer have I seen ice be naturally blue. Next time I order a Blue Hawaii, I’ll have to ask for it with the blue ice.
On either side of the glacier were huge jagged mountains that had been deeply cut and scathed by the slow moving ice. Off to the left, of it, was a massive waterfall that was dumping thousands of gallons of glacier water per minute into the river below.
After I took some photos, we continued the short hike down the rest of the mountain and to the Mendenhall Glacier National Park. There were several other tour groups there taking photos as well. We walked past them and found the restrooms where I was able to relive myself. Once I met back up with Kellie, we took a detour on our way back to the car; an area that is known for its bear sightings. So we walked over in that direction, hoping that we could get a glimpse of a bear eating some salmon or something similarly cool. As we were just about to walk into that area, a park ranger walked out of the area. Kellie asked if she had seen any bears but the ranger said that they hadn’t seen any. Just my luck... We walked through anyway and was able to see by the stream where bears had just been because of all the half eaten salmon that were chucked all over the grass near the stream which made it reek of rotting fish flesh. After a few minutes of hope, and no bear sightings, we decided to head out.
On the way out, a woman in front of us and her husband were pointing something out in the bushes. Was it a bear perhaps? A Moose even?! It was neither; it was a baby porcupine trying to flee from the woman’s loud voice and blaring camera flash. I managed to see if for a little while before it trotted its way into the nearby bushes and out of sight. It was too young to have proper quills so it was mostly covered in brown, wirery fur; but at least I was able to see some wildlife finally!
The rain forests in Alaska are so vast that it boggles my mind. It just seems like we have thousands and thousands of miles of trees and unexplored land up here in Alaska. Its exciting to know that there are still places like this. Places that are so wild and beautiful and unexplored, that it could make someone all their life exploring these lands, and they would have only seen just the tip of the iceberg. -DB
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