Gulkana Glacier hike

[glacier_kitty]

Yesterday we got up earlyish, had breakfast, then drove to my apartment so I could get my hiking boots and stuff. Mom's coworker Troy (who relieved her at Northway) and his wife Ashley met us there. We all got in his truck and he drove us there. The smoke in Fairbanks was REALLY bad..probably the worst it's been..ew. At Eielson AFB we saw this huge smoke plume! I was surprised, it hadn't been like that the day before! I later read the fire had grown and was now over 40,000 acres! They're saying it's zero percent contained..they're working hard but it's proving hard to work with..yikes! Thankfully we left the smoke behind after we passed Eielson. It was gorgeous, I was so happy seeing the snow covered mountains in the distance. <3 We went to the bathroom and had lunch at a lake near the glacier..there were these birds that seemed unhappy we were there and we saw a dead baby bird on a rock. Its mom was standing over it and a couple birds were standing nearby..they got angry at us if we got too close. Aww, they were in mourning! :( One actually divebombed Ashley, it was funny haha. We continued to the glacier down that crazy rocky road haha. We parked and started hiking! It was chilly but fine when you were moving. This hike was better than the first time I hiked to it since then I had just started Paxil and was feeling sick, plus I was disappointed I couldn't walk on the glacier. I was much happier this time haha, though it was still really annoying and hard walking over rocks the whole time. I was curious to see how much the glacier had receded, and it definitely had quite a bit..aww. :( As we got closer we saw a bunch of people on the glacier! We talked to one guy and said if you went around the bend you could get on the glacier from an ice bridge..yay! (Why I couldn't walk on it before, the ice bridge had melted) He said it was a lot of walking though. Another guy said he got up on the glacier and there was a nice view and it was well worth it. It was definitely a lot of walking..I think it was over three miles just to get to the face of the glacier. But we all made it and crossed the ice bridge to the glacier, fulfilling my dream of like 4 years to walk on it. :D It was pretty cool, and not even that hard to walk on! I got some fresh glacier water (yummm) to take home. We wanted to crest the top of the glacier but we soon saw that distances are deceptive and you'd probably have to hike a long way..the glacier is bigger than you think! We had already hiked so far and not everyone was comfortable going further, so we turned back. I was not looking forward to the long hike back haha (my feet were killing me!). Buuut we made it back fine..I'm surprised how well I did! Mom called it glacier fever haha. I was definitely proud of myself. I was sooo sore though. It was AT LEAST a 6 or 7 mile hike, maybe even 8. Woww. We drove back (Alaskan problems..putting your sun visor down at 10 PM :P), had dinner at Delta Junction and drove home. Luckily the wind was blowing the smoke somewhere else. My feet and ankles are quite sore today haha..but it was certainly worth it. :D Now pics, they're pretty awesome! (I borrowed mom's camera haha)



Ewww, smoke





The smoke plume from Eielson. They're saying it was caused by a military training exercise

Yay! Mt. Deborah or Hess, maybe

There's a glacier up there

Gorgeous

The wind was kicking up all the glacial silt





LOL forever xD

Phelan Creek, which drains Gulkana Glacier

The suspension bridge in the distance

Someone rode their bike up there?? D:









Mom crossing



Gulkana Glacier











Me, my parents and Troy







Yay, crossing the ice bridge!





On ze glacier!



I got water from here



It may not look it, but it's a long way up there









The dragonfly we rescued off the glacier..it was cold!





Pretty flowers

Comments

[foxydanish.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, you got INSANELY good pictures! I can't believe the smoke in those first few, it looks like fog or something since it's so thick. I bet the glacier water tasted beautifully crisp and fresh and amazing. That is a LONG hike but I am so excited for you that you got to stand on Gulkana Glacier! Yay! Hehe. The dragonfly you guys rescued looks very pretty, it has really cool markings on it. Sounds like a really great experience!