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 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.
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