 |
| View of Mendenhall Glacier from the Mendenhall Campground |
I was planning on hiking
the West Glacier Trail but not necessarily to the ice caves which I
did not even know about until someone at my campground mentioned it
and asked if I would join her. Since hiking in groups is
greatly advisable, I was happy to have some company. I made
sure I had some food, water, bear spray and my camera.
We walked to the West
Glacier Trailhead which is accessed by Montana Creek road which will
turn into Skaters Cabin road. This is about a mile from the
main road, Mendenhall Loop road. The first mile or so is easy
walking. Then you do a little elevation gain with a few
switchbacks and cable hand rails. At around the second mile,
you reach a fork with straight being the West Glacier and right
being the View Point Trail, (this is not a "View Point" like I had
thought, I'll come back to this later). So we continued up the
West Glacier Trail which started getting more mountainy and required
some careful stepping and the occasional butt slides. There
was one steep rock face which had a knotted rope to help you up.
We were looking for the
so called ice cave trail which we asked returning hikers about.
One said it didn't exist while two others said we were on the old
ice cave trail with no access to the so called new caves. But
then we ran into a group that said this trail does in fact go to the
ice caves. So we continued on. However, after about 3
hours, we got to some really steep and hard to navigate terrain and
my hiking companion decided she did not want to go down something
she couldn't get back up. We were about a half hour away
according to the last group we talked to. So she was going to
wait while I continued on. From the point I left her, I
crossed a creek by a plank made of two 2x4s. From there, it
was following these plastic tape like markers tied to trees or
bushes. I believe these we installed by the guided tours which
I would HIGHLY recommend using!
As I got closer, the air
got much cooler as the glacier cools the air as much as 10 degrees
within a mile. Every so often, I could see the glacier,
getting bigger and bigger. By this point, it was mostly rock
faces carved out by the receding ice. Somewhere along the way,
I lost track of the markers but I could see the glacier so against
my better judgment, I continued on. I did see some markers but
they seemed to be loose and perhaps not in their original spots.
But at long last, I came to a very steep loose rock and gravel
embankment which lead to the ice caves. There wasn't any way
down but straight down that I could see so I carefully slide down
and made it to the shoreline. So, getting there was not too
difficult but the intended trail was not well marked in my opinion.
This could be for a variety of reasons. I think the forest
service doesn't necessarily want tons of people hiking there,
especially without a guide. As with any back country hiking
(or any activity in a forest service area), it's at your own risk.
As for the ice caves,
they were truly astounding. I know some of my photos makes
them look small but they are large. Some of my pics have
people in them to give you an ideal on how big it is. As for
going in, that is totally at your own risk. I did see a guided
group but they had all the necessary safety equipment. But I
kind figured if the ice caved in, a hard hat wasn't going to do much
so again, against my better judgment, I walked through the largest
cave which is more of a tunnel as it goes through to the backside of
this portion of the glacier. From the back side, you can see
the other caves which had much lower ceilings. The blue ice
was just beautiful. This is the product of hundreds of year's
snow compacting into ice and is now melting away.
If you do venture in,
make sure there are other people around and you have a waterproof
phone and or camera cover. It's like a light drizzle inside
all of the caves. Looking at some of the ice has an
otherworldly feel to it. Like nothing you'll see anywhere
else. Again, I stress that these are ice caves and completely
unpredictable. They will be gone soon (several months to a few
years?) but more caves will reveal themselves so it's an ever
changing landscape.
After I took many photos,
I chatted with someone about the trails and thought I was getting
put back on the right track but there are apparently two trails.
I was hiking this other trail and soon realized I was not where I
should be. I needed to get back to where I left my hiking
companion so I idiotically went off trail in hopes of intersecting
the other trail. This turned out to be fruitless and I spent
an hour making no progress. I ended up slipping and falling,
road rashing my hand and elbow and decided I really needed some
help. I was in a lower point and realized I was near a
landmark (receding ice timeline marker) so that would be at least
some useful information if I needed to call the ranger.
I eventually saw another
group and was able to meet up with them, explain my situation and
they had a first aid kit to cover up my wounds. They said we
were on a sort of unofficial trail but basically the view point
trail and recommended that I hike with them back to the trailhead
and I could go from there. This other trail was equally up and
down terrain wise so there's definitely not an easy trail to the
glacier. When we returned to the fork, I recognized that I
wasn't too far from the point I left and was ready to head back out
when lo and behold, there she was coming down the trail. This
was of course a relief to all of us as it had been about three hours
since we split up. She just figured I was having a great time
and started heading back. It all worked out. But I know
made several stupid mistakes!
First and foremost, I
should have got her phone number before we split up. That was
dumb. Secondly, I should have had an actual topographical map
of the area, not just a squiggly line that I screenshotted from an
app which provided absolutely no detail. I had rudimentary gps
on my phone so I had a decent idea but that's still not a substitute
for factual information. Thirdly, I didn't have hiking boots
on which definitely contributed to my fall. And lastly, I
continued on when I wasn't sure. As soon as I lost the trail,
I should have backtracked. I was in the boy scouts so I knew
better.
While this was an
incredible experience, I would not do it again without an
experienced guide or at the very least, kayaking across the lake as
that puts you a quarter mile away with an easy to follow trail.
But this information changes as the ice continues to recede so
again, go with someone who has been there recently.
Along with pictures from
the campground, the Mendenhall Visitors Center and Nugget Falls, I
have seen the glacier from many viewpoints over six days and find
the Mendenhall Glacier to be an absolute must visit if you come to
Juneau.
 |
| About a quarter
mile to the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Looking down a
rock a gravel embankment to the Mendenhall Glacier Ice
Caves (lower center) |
 |
| A closer view of
the entrances to the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves (note the
people) |
 |
| The main
cave/tunnel at Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Smaller opening
at Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves (note the backpack and legs
inside) |
 |
| Mendenhall
Glacier Ice Caves melting (way to wet to go into) |
 |
| Mendenhall
Glacier Ice Caves main opening (looks small from this angle
but it's not!) |
 |
| Inside one of the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Inside one of the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| On top of the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves (lots of loose rocks) |
 |
| View from behind
the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| View from behind
the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Under the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Under the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Under the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Behind the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
Close up view under the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves
 |
| A chunk of ice at the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
|
 |
Another close up view under the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves
(the color is right, this wasn't as aqua as other parts of the caves) |
|
 |
| Better view of
the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves openings |
 |
| Wide view of the
Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves openings |
 |
| Hikers on top of Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Close up of hikers on top of Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves |
 |
| Wide view of the front of Mendenhall Glacier |
 |
| Close up of the crevices in the Mendenhall Glacier |
 |
| Super zoom of crevice in Mendenhall Glacier |
 |
| Mendenhall
Glacier Ice Limit Marker from 2002 (unfortunately the sign was facing the opposite direction of the glacier so it's hard to see how far away it was but it was maybe a third of a mile) |
 |
| Pieces of ice from the Mendenhall Glacier floating in Mendenhall Lake |
 |
| View of Mendenhall Glacier from the Visitors Center |
W~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit my and subscribe to my youtube channel!
Visit my ETSY shop!
All photos taken by Paul Clough.
© All Rights Reserved. Please contact for permission to use photos.
