Alaska with Momma T, Part 1: Train, Hiking, Glaciers, on my!

*Note: click on any picture to enlarge

Last month my mother-in-law came to visit. By no means was this her first trip to the last frontier; however, this was the first time her agenda was simply vacation, relaxation and pleasure purposes. Her other five or so trips have all been with church mission trips. 

Momma T, on the train, awake for now

Tzena (pronounced Zane-uh) visiting makes our second visit from ole NC, after my parents came up in March for a few days of skiing. Somehow though, there was no blogged record of the visit (sorry mom and dad).

Front of train passing in front of a glacier. Taken from rear car

After fighting with missed flights, poor airline customer service and sleeping over night on a Detroit airport bench, she made it to Alaska...exhausted. But sleep was not on the agenda. The next morning Heather and her mom boarded the Alaska Railroad at 6:30am en route to Seward, AK.

Reflection on 26-mile long Kenai Lake

They rode the train standby (didn't by tix before hand) and ended up riding in a train car with only two other people. They were told that the tour guide commentary/narration would not, however, come through in their car. But it did. The result, Heather, Tzena and two others got a private car to themselves to run around on and get the best pictures possible. Fun.

This glacier can only be seen by hiking in or riding the train

While they were riding on the smooth chugging along train, I was busy running early morning errands in Anchorage (i.e. DMV). Afterwards, I jumped in Jayne and tore down the road toward Seward to meet them at the train station. This way, we would have a car in Seward for the two days we were there, and we could drive back, saving time and money.

Perfect reflection, more of Kenai Lake

Posing in front of their private car

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From the train station we made our way to Exit Glacier (see earlier post) to do some hiking. Exit Glacier runs down between two mountains coming from a massive expanse of ice settled like an enormous frozen lake within a range of mountains. The Harding Ice Field itself (elevation ~3,500 ft) is over 600 square miles in size, with dozens of glaciers proceeding from it. Include these glaciers in the size and this piece of ice is just over 900 square miles!

When you go to Exit Glacier, there is a short 1 mile trial that brings you to the edge or bottom of the glacier. It is quite a sight to see. There is also a longer 4 mile trail that brings you up the mountain parallel the glacier to the edge of the Harding Ice Field. And this was my goal: to look out across the field and feel small.

Thin plank "bridge" across a river

The plan was for all three of us to hike the beginning, but then Heather and her mom were going to turn around, descend and go enjoy Seward while I continued upward.

Rest break on a cliff

The trail was beautiful. Rivers, cliffs, sweat, vegetation, sunshine, dirt, views and lots of other people to keep away bears (or get eaten instead of me) made the lower trek awesome.

Came across a mtn goat and baby in front of the glacier. Picturesque!

After departing Heather and Tzena, I got to the top of the cliffs portion of the climb, encountered snow (mid-June mind you) and took in the view.

Upper Exit Glacier from top of cliffs, 2.1 miles traveled

The latter two miles of the hike was almost all through snow, a foot or more deep. There's something that kind of messes with you when you're walking through deep snow, in June, wearing shorts, feeling hot, and getting sun burned.

Looking down Exit Glacier into valley

Finally getting the edge of the ice field, the view was amazing! Pictures don't due it justice, but the small bumps you seen in the background are the peaks of other mountains barely above the ice. Word had it that a bear was spotted the day before out on the ice.

Harding Ice Field. Ice as far as my eyes could see.

Because of the sunny-ness and the reflecting off the snow and all, when I got indoors and settled, I had a sunburn worth mentioning. When I took off my shirt, because my arms and face were so red, it looked kind of like I was still wearing a shirt (one with chest hair). Luckily, the burn looked far worse than it was.

This hike was so much fun, I'd do it again in a heart beat. And after a 7-hour round trip, at the end of this day, I was just that...beat.