East Mandenhall Glacier Trail
Party: Tour group from the same cruise
Distance is ~4.5 miles
Elevation gain is ~500 ft
Latitude - 58.3N (the most northern hike so far)
Hiking in Alaska... Wow! Something I have been looking forward to ever since we book the cruise ticket about 1 month ahead of the trip. What would it be like? It doesn't really matter. It would be "cool" hiking on top of the world (latitude wise).
I wasn't expecting a quick drive-through tour for Juneau... Well, why not, I am on a tour anyway.
Well, there were a lot of unexpected when I finally got on the hike. First of all, I didn't expect it would be drizzling in Juneau. What? They actual rain 300 days out of a year? Okay, many of those days were snowing. That's news to me. Where was my windbreaker? Back in California... I was the only person on the hike with a short sleeves. Com'on! Its Alaska after all, I cold have at least bring some long sleeve
s... Luckily it wasn't that cold and I warmed up 5 minutes into the hike. I was the East Mendelhall Glacier Trail we were on.
As for the trial... It was not anything I expected at all. Why would I expect to hike in a rain forest in Alaska. Ferns, more ferns and moss I have every seen in my life. How can so many trees grow on the solid granite without even any soil? How would the moss grow on all these trees? It was magical and magnificent... I was walking on roots and moss like hard wood floor and carpet. With the tranquility, I was out of this world.
About an hour into the hike, Mendelhall Glacier comes into sight. It was illusive for the beginning coming in and out of the fog. With some patience, the Glacier shows it grandiose.
It was worth the wait. Far better than taking a bus and going to the visitor center. This is a true complete immersion of myself in the wilderness of Alaska. The full experience.
Now, here is the sad part of the story. I found out later that one of my coworkers went to the same place about 10 years ago. The Glacier was almost 1 mile closer to the visitor center than it is today. The Glacier has receded a lot over the past decade and it is not slowing down. Go before it disappears.
I wasn't expecting a quick drive-through tour for Juneau... Well, why not, I am on a tour anyway.Well, there were a lot of unexpected when I finally got on the hike. First of all, I didn't expect it would be drizzling in Juneau. What? They actual rain 300 days out of a year? Okay, many of those days were snowing. That's news to me. Where was my windbreaker? Back in California... I was the only person on the hike with a short sleeves. Com'on! Its Alaska after all, I cold have at least bring some long sleeve
s... Luckily it wasn't that cold and I warmed up 5 minutes into the hike. I was the East Mendelhall Glacier Trail we were on.As for the trial... It was not anything I expected at all. Why would I expect to hike in a rain forest in Alaska. Ferns, more ferns and moss I have every seen in my life. How can so many trees grow on the solid granite without even any soil? How would the moss grow on all these trees? It was magical and magnificent... I was walking on roots and moss like hard wood floor and carpet. With the tranquility, I was out of this world.
It was worth the wait. Far better than taking a bus and going to the visitor center. This is a true complete immersion of myself in the wilderness of Alaska. The full experience.
Now, here is the sad part of the story. I found out later that one of my coworkers went to the same place about 10 years ago. The Glacier was almost 1 mile closer to the visitor center than it is today. The Glacier has receded a lot over the past decade and it is not slowing down. Go before it disappears.
