Day 12 – Glaciality – June 12, 2019

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is huge. But there is really only one road deep into it, and we’re staying at the end of that road. The Wrangell Mountains are volcanic in origin and Mt. Wrangell is still considered an active volcano. The tectonic plates in the area are operating in a manner that is actually pushing the mountain ranges higher. Many of the highest mountains in the U.S. are located within this national park.

The park also contains the majority of glacial ice in the State of Alaska. Two of those glaciers are right outside our lodge. The larger of the two, Kennicott Glacier, flows right through the town of  Kennicott and down to McCarthy. Most of what we can see from Kennicott is the terminal moraine zone. When we pulled into town yesterday, there were vast undulating fields of gravel that looked like tailings from a mining operation. In fact, this is part of the glacier and the gravel is covering the ice at depths from a few inches to several feet. As you move north up toward the mountains, the ice begins to show.

Our hike today took us two miles from town to the Root Glacier. Once on the glacier, we hiked another mile or so before returning to town.

Karen was full of excitement at the start of our hike.

The excitement began to build as we approached the toe of the glacier.

With our crampons in place, we began our ascent toward a higher understanding of the icy realm.

In the distance, we could see the Staircase Icefall, which our guide told us is the second largest icefall in the world.

We crossed many ice rivers as we made our way up the glacier.

At our crampon orientation, our guide told me, “grasshopper, you must trust your crampons, for they will keep you firmly rooted.”

We lunched next to a pristine glacial pond.

And, even drank from its waters.

Then, it was time to begin the return trek.

At times, the landscape became disorienting.

But, we made it off the glacier.

When Karen’s knees got sore, a fellow hiker (a massage therapist/nurse from Holland) provided some on-trail acupressure as a palliative measure. After nearly six hours of hiking, Karen was ready to call it a day.

Once back at the lodge, you could see way up toward the top of the Kennicott Glacier. With the sun, came the mosquitoes. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see where one of those pesky insects photo-bombed my shot (left side halfway up).

Later that afternoon, I took a two mile ‘cool-down’ walk around the mine buildings to see what the area looked like when it wasn’t raining (as it was yesterday). After a filet mignon dinner at the lodge, we retired for the evening.

 Lupine lined the trail.

Next: Valdez