Hiking to Exit Glacier

On our way down to Seward last week to meet Karl's dad (who was doing some halibut fishing), we made a detour to visit Exit Glacier.  Just a few miles outside of Seward, it was the perfect place to kill some time while we waited for his dad to come back in from fishing for the evening.

Exit Glacier is easily viewable from the road, and is only a 1 mile hike from the parking area provided by  the NPS.

Exit Glacier is one of over 30 glaciers flowing from the Harding Icefield, a 30 by 50 mile stretch of ice in the Kenai Mountains.  This glacier was given its name by being the exit route for the first exploration party to successfully cross the icefield in 1968.  There is a longer hike that will take you all the way up to the icefield, but we started out far too late in the day to see it on this trip.

All in all, it was a great spur of the moment detour!  After we'd left, Karl told me about a sign near the entrance to the trail that he'd read while I was off searching for a bathroom.  Apparently, it warned about bears in the area and gave these instructions:  "If you see a black charging you, slowly back away.  If you see a grizzly bear charging you, play dead.  If the grizzly bear starts to eat you, fight back."  I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think I would be able to play dead while a bear was eating me unless I was ACTUALLY dead.

Blueberry Picking in Hatcher Pass

Welcome to Day 1 of Blueberry Week!

In a spurt of nice weather, Karl and I decided to head back to Hatcher Pass and hunt for some blueberries.  Without a four-wheeler, we had to find a place to hike to that might have a berry patch.  We headed up Hatcher Pass Road and turned onto Archangel Road, which took us to the Reed Lakes Trail.  Archangel Road was a typical unmaintained Alaska road, which meant your max speed was about 3 MPH.  It was a beautiful day for a hike, and we got an up close glimpse of some of the mountains that have already collected some snow.

About 1.5 miles in, we came to the last remnant of the Snowbird Mine Village, an active mineral mine from 1939 to 1959.

You would not believe the number of abandoned mines in Hatcher Pass (the most popular being Independence Mine - I'll show you that someday too!).

Seriously, look at the view outside this window.  Makes you feel a little bit better for the miners that were basically stuck here working until every last resource was extracted from the mine!

After we passed the mine, the trail became a lot rougher.  There were makeshift bridges and lots of boulders to climb over and around.

We passed gorgeous Lower Reed Lake, which I of course didn't manage to get a picture of...

Just as the the trail started to get a lot steeper, we came across a TON of blueberry bushes that were almost completely ripe!  We'd seen a few bushes lower on the trail, but most of the berries were still a few weeks from edible.  It seems that the higher elevation helped the berries out a bit.  We sat and berry picked for about two hours, all the while being eaten alive by mosquitos because someone forgot the bug dope.  We both felt like we'd rolled around in poison ivy by the time we headed back to the car.  Once all the berries were washed at home, we were able to get a good look at what we got.

And to think, we only stole a few handfuls on our hike!  I'd definitely like to hike the entire trail, but I think we'll need to be a bit more prepared to go further than a couple of miles.  One of the coolest things about Alaska is you are basically allowed to plop a tent down anywhere in the state.  Perhaps an overnight in Hatcher Pass is in order?

More blueberry fun coming tomorrow!