July 17, 2024.
9.4 mi. | 3380′ ele. gain | 7:45 hr.
The majestic icefields at Kenai Fjords National Park can be seen by land, air or sea. There’s only one maintained trail in the park where hikers can visit viewpoints of the glaciers. Knowing that the Exit Glacier Area is an extremely popular place to visit, we drove there early to grab a spot in the parking lot. We made breakfast in the van and packed up our stuff for a full day.
Around 9 am, we popped our heads into the nature center and then started our hike. The trail at first is paved. Occasional signs with four numbers on them sprout up along the path. I had no idea what they meant at the time, but we later learned they represent the year that the glacier’s edge rested at that spot. That absolutely blew my mind! We noticed more of these signs along the road as we drove out later that day.
The flowers came out in a hurry: pink pyrola, monkeyflower, columbine. They decorated the trail as it climbed through a dense forest, full of greenery from summer sun and rain. We played leapfrog with a few other groups headed up to the glacier. Many of the other tourists stayed on the lower viewpoint trails.
The ranger we spoke to the previous day had warned us of a mama black bear and her cubs that were hanging out in a particular meadow partway up the trail. As we walked, we practiced our “hiking in bear country” strategy of keeping a conversation going the whole time. As if on cue, mama bear poked her head up out of the thick grass right where we expected to see her. It was the first time we saw a bear while we were hiking! We’d seen several bears from the safety of the van. We watched her for a few minutes, but did not want to disturb her. There was no sign of the cubs, who were probably disguised by the lush meadow. Still, it was an exciting Alaska hiking moment!
At the first major viewpoint and turnaround point for many hikers, we paused to gawk at the beautiful glacier. Nearby, a series of stairstep rock slabs provided an excellent snack stop. Although we’d gotten a few peek-a-boo views of the ice earlier, this one warranted a larger break. We fueled up for the remainder of the climb, I did a quick pen sketch of the glacier and then we kept moving.
Ahead we could see the route winding across rockfall and snow patches. We’d brought Yaktrax in case we needed them, but the snow was soft and well-tracked out. Our footwear was sufficient. Each step brought us closer and closer to an enormous icefield. At present, the Harding Icefield is 700 square miles and is one of four such icefields contained entirely in the United States. Forty glaciers emerge from this enormous mass of ice.
It is hard to comprehend these numbers and words until you are indeed staring at the face of all this ice. As we hiked among glacially scrubbed rocks, a profusion of alpine wildflowers and mountains that reminded us of home in Central Oregon, we forgot about the whole reason we’d come. Until we reached the end of the trail.
Sprawled out in front of us, bright white ice reflected the brilliant sun. The ranger had been right about the weather! The official trail fanned out into numerous user paths where people had wandered around to try and get their own personal viewpoint. We crisscrossed the rocky paths to find a spot out of the wind and out of view of the other hikers. There, we enjoyed our lunches and the surreal scene in front of us.
There was time for more art. This time, I opened up a two-page spread in my watercolor journal to make a feeble attempt at capturing the essence of the icefield. But alas, there wasn’t much to paint as nature’s canvas was almost entirely white.
A lone snow bunting flitted from rock to rock as I wrapped up my painting and we got ready to go. It was a magical experience.
On our way down, we saw hundreds more people. Some still on their way up, many others on their way down. By the end we were nearly shoulder to shoulder with all the hikers who had come out to catch a glimpse of this landscape today. And who could blame them? I’d never seen anything like it.
By the time we tumbled back into the van, we were both feeling pretty hungry and tired. We got ourselves cleaned up and then dug into hearty meals at the Salmon Bake right up the street. One last evening camped on the gravel bar, then it was time to head off to explore other parts of the Kenai Peninsula.
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