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Published: June 18th 2009
Jesse
On Exit Glacier....until today.
DAY 4
We woke up this morning after another good night’s sleep (about 9 hours worth!) , deciding it was best not to shower until AFTER our hike (it had been 2 days since we’d each taken a full shower). Keep in mind that we are staying in a town full of fisherman and “hippie” outdoorsy people.
So, we showed up to the Exit Glacier Guides building (an old train car in an area called “The Train Wreck”) at 9 am in our layers of clothing - though I had on two fewer layers than the day before, which would later prove to be a good idea. When we arrived, we were greeted by our guide, Ryan. He fitted us with crampons (spikes you put on the bottom or your shoes so you can walk on the ice) and gave us trail mix, a granola bar, a helmet, and a backpack (that had a water pack in it) in which to put all our gear. At 9:30, our shuttle to Exit Glacier departed with our hiking group - our guide (Ryan), Jesse, me, and a woman from Vancouver.
We
Kris
Enjoying the view. started up the hill not knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into. As we entered the trail, we saw a sign that said the hike up was about 7 miles roundtrip, which, for some reason, didn’t sound that bad. ‘Three and a half miles up? No problem!’ I was more concerned about seeing a bear, but I felt confident being with a knowledgeable guide if we were to come in contact with one.
Ryan stopped us a few times on our way up so we could rest a little, drink some water, and de-layer as necessary. Since it was quite sunny and we were working so hard ascending up the mountain (and there was no snow or ice in sight), we were sweating quite a bit. The only wildlife we ended up seeing (aside from plants) were a marmot who sat on a rock and watched us and a little vole (kinda like a large brown mouse) who scampered around our feet.
Finally, we made it to the end of the trail, but we had to hike a little further through some brush and scramble down some loose stones before we were able
Small Waterfall
I can't believe we didn't get any pictures of the larger waterfalls, but this one was pretty. Notice how the rest of the glacier almost looks like one of those sandscapes, with all those whites, blues and grays (from the ice and silt). to get to the glacier. Here, we donned our crampons and helmets and made our way out onto the ice. It took some getting used to in order to feel comfortable using the crampons, but we were all pros in no time! We were able to walk up and down some very steep inclines using them, and I started to feel some rarely used muscles working quite hard!!!
I wish I could remember all the glacier info I learned, but I’m on vacation and therefore should not be expected to recite all the facts spewed at me during my trip! I do remember that we saw what is called a moulan, which is basically a huge hole made into the ice that goes very deep (the hole got dark before we could see the bottom - very scary!) made from the melting water that was running down the side of the glacier. We saw lots of little streams and waterfalls on the glacier - they were gorgeous! All different shades of blues were showing through the icy white outer layer of the glacier. There was also some very dirty areas on the glacier, made from all the
silt the glacier picks up as it moves across the land.
We even saw marmot poop! That’s right, marmots like to go out ice hiking, too! Can’t you just picture them in their little helmets and crampons? Apparently they eat the ice worms - worms that actually live in the ice. I would like to learn more about these guys.
After walking over a bunch of crevasses and finding our way back to the original side of the glacier, we walked off the ice and took off our crampons. Little did I know I had quite a climb ahead of me. We had gotten off the ice quite a bit lower than we had entered the ice, so we had to climb up the on the dirt. Well, apparently the area we climbed up had up until recently been covered with glacier. What is left when a glacier recedes is a lot of very fine silt and rocks, making for very tough climbing as all of this wanted to crumble beneath our feet as we carefully made our way up the steep incline. I soon wanted to take off a layer or two as
Kris and Jesse
Look at our view! I was now sweating quite a bit, even with the glacier right next to us.
Finally, it was time to descend down the mountain along the trail. This was a test in strength for our knees, and both Jesse and I wiped out at some point as we made our way down! (I knew Cori would appreciate my fall as I remembered us each falling in Kentucky over spring break.) Luckily neither of us were hurt (besides a bruised butt), but I, of course, found it funny and had trouble making myself stop laughing!
After dropping off our gear and saying goodbye to our guide back at “The Train Wreck,” we decided to head over to the Alaskan Sea Life Center. We’d heard there was a young sea otter on display that had been rescued this winter. We didn’t spend much time at the Center because we were so tired after our hike, but we did get to see the harbor seals playing out back (they have been removed from their usual exhibit to showcase their otter.
Unfortunately when we arrived, both the sea mammal tanks were empty, and you can imagine
Marmot Poop
I AM a science teacher, after all. that I was not very happy! We watched the tank of sea birds for a while and finally found the harbor seals in their auxiliary tanks out back. Eventually, we heard some commotion and were happy to see Skittle, the sea otter, happily playing in his tank and getting fed by the trainer. After he finished eating, we went to the lower part of the exhibit, where we able to see him dive around and swim under water. He was so cute! We especially liked seeing him lay on his back while he was eating, as he looked super cute with his little feet, tail, and head poking out of the water.
The last thing we did before we headed back to Bear Lodge to go to sleep, we decided to eat at the barbeque place located in “The Train Wreck.” It advertised vegetarian food on the outside of it, so we decided it was our duty to patronize it (plus, it smelled pretty darn good)! The inside of it was pretty cute. It was an old railroad car converted to a restaurant. When you walked in, there were booths to the right along the windows and
the kitchen to the left (sorry, no pictures of the inside). Believe it or not, they had a smoked tofu burger, which was awesome! Jesse had the pulled pork sandwich.
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Your mother
non-member comment
What were you thinking
Honestly, what were you two thinking about straddling a crevasse? It's bad enough that you did that but then you go and post the picture for your mother to see and worry about! :-) Glad you guys are having such a great time. The pictures are awesome! Just be careful!