Seward & Exit Glacier

Day 11: Seward & Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords Nat'l Park

...Another day, (one last day) without flying...

My wife had finally arrived in Anchorage the night before, and I was glad to see her. In the early discussions of whether to take this trip we'd planned on traveling together for the duration, but I asked her if she really wanted to spend 2+ weeks traveling in the airplane. Between that and a $200 one-way ticket to Anchorage it was an easy choice: Airline it up, travel around for a bit, and fly south in the Mooney together. This plan would prove to work out satisfactorily, though in the end we both wanted more Alaska than time would permit.

We had another day of rental car and weather was forecast to move in that would preclude any flying, so once again I tore down the Seward highway out of Anchorage, this time it was my wife's turn to marvel at the sights as a first-timer. We made our way to Seward, a pleasant town of only 2,600 or so that felt larger, no doubt due to the rail connection, port, and large commercial fishing presence. The small downtown area has some fun touristy diversions, local art, etc.

After Seward we left to get up and close to a glacier -- Exit Glacier, a drive-up affair in Kenai Fjords National Park. Along the drive in, road signs are posted with dates (years). The years grow successively larger (more recent) over the last mile or two as you approach the end of the road, and current-day terminus of the glacier... an interesting chronology of its retreat. This was our first experience exploring the terminus of a glacier and doing a bit of up close hiking near the end. One regret was not getting there early enough to take a half-day or so and hike up adjacent Exit Glacier to take a look at the Harding Ice Field above, a climb of a few thousand feet.

One general travel principle I prefer, though not without its stress, is making as few plans in advance as possible. When traveling via single-engine airplane this is usually the case anyway -- one of the more hazardous things a pilot can say is "I will be there tomorrow at 6pm, no matter what". From what I'd read prior to the trip this can be a problem in the North in the higher part of the tourist season - June & July... but approaching late August with school back in session things like rental cars and hotels were generally available the day-of (well, except for Whitehorse a few days ago).

With this in mind, we started thinking about accommodations while visiting the glacier. As I had a few days break from camping and my wife was still fresh we looked for a nearby place to camp, and were not disappointed: Kenai Fjords park has a (free) walk-in campground a couple miles from the terminus of the glacier just off the access road. Normally, I eschew established campgrounds for the proximity they place people in different groups. I'm not anti-social, but prefer a quiet place to sleep, free of hearing tent zippers, people who stay up late, and smoke from campfires. Give me a hundred-yard buffer, at least. This campground, however, was exceptional... elbow room with vegetation between campsites, a great shelter to cook and eat in, and a walk-in food storage area to keep smelly items and food from tempting the local bears.

As we weren't paying for a hotel we enjoyed a great feast at the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake, most of the way down the road to Seward. Any restaurant that deprecates itself with t-shirts that say "Lousy food and cheap beer" is probably going to be really, really good -- and our feast of salmon, halibut, wine, and beer certainly was.

Chugach hikes

Day 10: Crow Creek Pass

Crow Pass

The airplane stayed parked at Merrill for a couple more days as I had ground transport. My wife was arriving this afternoon, and I had been looking for a good day hike to pass the time out of town. This presented a dilemma not unlike going to a good restaurant with a lengthy menu -- too many choices, all that looked good. I settled on a day hike to Crow Creek Pass in Chugach State Park, and I was not dissapointed! This was a relatively straight-forward 8-mile out and back day hike about an hour drive outside Anchorage.

The trail head along Crow Creek lies about 10 miles off the Seward highway, just outside the community of Girdwood. It was my first drive down the Seward highway along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet, full of gorgeous vistas in itself. Beluga point lived up to its name with countless Beluga wales coming up for a breath of air.

What struck me most about this hike, and seeing the mountains in this region of Alaska up and close was the condensed stratification of climactic zones. The flora just below trailhead elevation was made up of lush temperate rainforest, that quickly gave way to shrubby hillsides. The treeline seemed to be only around 2,000', and the upper bounds of the shrubby vegetation maybe 2,500'...with an alpine mountain pass at 3,200', similar in nature to what I'm used to seeing at 10,000'+ in California. It was as if everything I was used to was compressed. I suppose this continues the further north you go, with timberline eventually approaching sea level as one approaches the arctic tundra.

Approaching timberline

I didn't encounter much in the way of wildlife along the way, but there was a plethora of signs of bear activity in the first mile or so where the trail was lined with dense vegetation. Part of the reason I picked this hike, as I was still alone, was that it was a well-travelled trail and I thought this would reduce my chances of surprising a grizzly should one be in the area.

After reaching timberline the vegetation quickly thinned out, and eventually the ground was carpeted in places with tiny wildflowers and low-lying shrubs with vivid red leaves.

The reward for the hike upon reaching the pass was an up close view of the Raven glacier. I scrambled off trail to one of its morraines to enjoy lunch next to it, occasionally hearing the ice groan as it moved and melted.

Raven Glacier

I've done a fair bit of hiking, and perhaps I'm easily spoiled by the riches of a new environment, but I have to say this was one of the best day hikes I've done, period. The scenery, variations in climate, and rugged beauty just a short drive outside of civilization are amazing. Go take a look, if you're in the area and have the inclination. You won't be disappointed.

Wrangell St. Elias wonder, and Alaska, at last

Day 7, part 1: Whitehorse, Yukon to Northway, Alaska

The weather was finally better today. The sky was still full of multiple layers of broken cloud, but the instability and moisture had worked itself out. The passes to get to the southeast coast were still solid IFR, but flying over the top was now a possibility. Regardless, I stuck with the decision to bail on the southeast coast and move into the Anchorage area to meet my wife who would arrive in a few days. The local weather briefer gave me some suggestions the day prior for glaciers to tour as a side-trip from the Alcan, and I planned to do an abbreviated tour - perhaps a 20-minute detour or so - before stopping in Northway, Alaska to clear customs and then proceed from there.

After departing Whitehorse the first "cool!" moment was sighting Lake Laberge, of Sam McGee fame. I'm not someone with an extensive knowledge or even appreciation of poetry, but that one always stuck with me. I could only imagine traveling through here, in the dead of winter with a dog-sled. Being someone raised in a tropical environment who has lived through one solid winter in eastern Idaho (though its no Yukon, I got to experience snow covering the ground for 4 months straight, and catching the school bus at -20F), I could identify with Sam.

Lake Laberge

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who toil for gold; 
  The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
  Was that night on the marge of Lake Laberge
I cremated Sam McGee.

 - Robert Service

The scenery quickly took a more rugged character as the mountains west of the highway grew in stature and ferocity as they formed the 'foothills' of the approaching Wrangell and St. Elias ranges protected in the Kluane national park (on the Canadian side, Wrangell St. Elias park on the Alaska side). Atop this range, a vast icefield feeds vast glaciers down in every direction.

My plan was to planned to depart the highway near Haines Junction, and fly up the Kuskawulsh Glacier as far as I could, and weather permitting hop over to and fly down the Donjek Glacier and river to rejoin the Alcan norhwest of Burwash. The weather cooperated with this plan, and in short, it was one of the most spectacular flights I've experienced. The photos tell the story better than I ever could.

"Foothills" of the St. Elias range, near Haines Junction

Enroute up the Kulkawulsh River, I divere from the Alcan. This smaller range separates the high country from the Alcan highway

My first look at the present-day terminus of the Kuskawulsh Glacier

Each valley coming down from the icefield above had glaciers spilling out, with cloud spilling down over them

Kuskawulsh after its last main tributary (the south arm) joined it

Turning one's head from the main show, scenes like this would distract you right and left

Tributaries converging

Closeup of convergence

Eventually things were obscured by deck of stratus clouds. Mt. Logan, Canada's highest peak only about 500' shorter than Denali dominated the background though it was still many miles distant.

Taking a glance back at where I'd come from

Spillage from the ice field above into the Kuskawulsh

Glacial recession

Donjek Glacier terminus

More Donjek

Donjek calving into the river below

Donjek

One need not look far to see signs of how quickly these glaciers are receding. My aeronautical chart showed this one extending down to where the large area of grey debris now lies

Following this breathtaking diversion I rejoined the Alcan highway over still beautiful, but much more mundane terrain to cross the American border and land at Northway to clear customs; the inspection lasted all of a minute as I showed the agent my passport and he went around the airplane with what looked like a Geiger counter, because you know, there must be a huge threat of sneaking fissile material in from Canada.