Glacier Hopping to Seward

Matanuska Glacier is clearly visible from the highway, and moves so quickly that you can see clean ice down that flows right down to the river valley!

The glacially fed stream erodes away soft loess cliffs to sharp blades

The colors are turning, every day!

We drove past Anchorage to Girdwood, where we took the Crow Pass Trail. The valley is filled with tall dark hemlocks, and the only undergrowth are gangly devil's club.

The trail quickly climbs above tree and shrub line to a wide-open, rocky moonscape.

The valley is dotted with old mining camps

We passed many waterfalls

The streams are all fed by glacial outflow

A ground squirrel posed politely

There is a cabin at the summit lake

Just past the summit lake was Raven Glacier and a view down the next valley. The trail traverses the Chugach mountains all the way to Eagle River.

Close up of Raven Glacier

The glacier was so close to the trail!

The next day we took our rainforest hike, and true to it's name there was constant rain.

We were taking the Lost Lake trail as far as we cared to.

There was a hemlock savannah at the top of the trail, a relief from the thick alder scrub we had been hiking through. We scared up a bear just feet from us on the trail without knowing it was there because of the dense vegetation.

If you lived in Seward, you would become a connoisseur of clouds.

Sheep Mountain

After a fantastic glacier-view hike, we had to continue southwards towards our destination of Sheep Mountain. We stopped to view the Gulkana Glacier valley, but didn't stay long because of threatening rain.

Rainbow ridge with some extra rainbow  

Paxson Lake continues for a long long ways

A glacier along the Glenn Highway

The black spruce forest seemed endless

We arrived at Sheep Mountain in the early afternoon, with just enough time for a hike to the summit.

A frog flower

We had to do some route finding and negotiate a dry stream bed

The steepness of the slope ahead was intimidating, but you don't have to contend with altitude 



The ascent was steep, and the best part was that we got a good look at all the delicious blueberries!

A wall of rock that grew from the bottom of the valley

Dwarf birch and blueberry light up the slope

Climbing to the first tor along the summit ridge

View from the "summit" of Sheep Mountain. You can continue hiking upwards for a ways, though I did not scout a route for the farther peak.

It's not a cloud - Matanuska Glacier is the white ribbon in the distance.

We found a bench at the top!!

You can see our cabins waaaay below (green roofs)

Tundra walking on top of the mountain.

The descent was relatively easy because the shrubs were soft and spongy underfoot.

Alpenglow on a distant peak at 9 pm

The Circular Tour of Alaska - the Interior

We took our first hike up Wickersham Dome to see early fall colors and to pick blueberries.

The local marmot.

Another beautiful fall day in the Interior!

Tanana River at Salcha (south from Fairbanks)

The next day we drove south to Delta Junction to hike in the Alaska Range. We chose to hike the jeep trail to Canwell Glacier. The hike started in a steep sided steely gray canyon ("a construction zone"), which then opened up to a view of the glacial valley.

The reddish color on the edge of this hill is rock, not plants!

The fireweed had finished blooming, but was still fiery red! 

Across the glacial valley, the shrubs and trees were starting to make a rainbow splash.

The jeep trail followed the narrow edge of a moraine at the shoulder of the glacier. Much of the lower end of the glacier is inactive and covered in gravel. The active part is white and is farther up the valley.

The end of the road was not actually the end. The trail continues across the gravel stream bed and seems to keep going up towards a small glacier in the top of the valley.

The heroic jeep trail.

Looking back towards the Alaska Range, with colorful varieties of rock dividing up the hillsides. 

Taking a blueberry break.

Rainbow Ridge to the south east.

We had to ford a small stream, which was actually not too cold and revived our feet.

A burn regrowth in what used to be black spruce forest outside of Delta Junction.