After ten years of living in Juneau, I can FINALLY check one of the town's must-see sites off my bucket list: the Mendenhall Glacier ice caves! The weather has been phenomenal lately so when my friend, Terra, asked me to join her on a hike out to the glacier this weekend and tempted me with the possibility of making it to the caves, I jumped at the chance.
Most of the year, the caves are only accessible by the West Glacier Trail, which I'm told is at least a 1/2 day hike, including a pretty intense rock cliff you need to climb over before you can even see the glacier. Also, with the glacier receding as much as it is, the hike only gets longer and longer as each year passes. Not to mention the caves are constantly changing as the ice melts and shifts. It's quite possible that one day, in the not-so-distant future, people won't be able to reach the caves at all.
Thankfully our hike ended up being considerably shorter and easier than it would normally be since it's the middle of winter and the Mendenhall Lake has frozen over completely. We ventured out towards the glacier in the company of many other Juneauites wanting to take advantage of the beautiful day. The next several hours were happily spent playing on icebergs, snapping tons of photos (none of which could ever do the real thing justice), and soaking up the beauty of our fantastic "backyard". The ice cave we were able to make it to after hiking up a steep hill alongside the glacier was unbelievable too and so much fun to explore! I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to be able to say I finally saw one of the caves in person!
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| Only a small portion of the face of the glacier |
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| Left my heart at Mendenhall Glacier today |
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| Looking back at the crowd headed our way as we hiked up to the ice cave |
Random Fact About Me #638: Despite growing up in one of the coldest states and being surrounded by a wonderful environment for it, I have never been ice skating, skiing, or snowboarding.
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