Hiking Above a Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park

There were so many good pictures from our hike up the ridgeline at Lamplugh Glacier, but this one really captures what the hike it like. The higher you get, the more amazing the view... so higher we went.

Glacier Bay National Park is one of the hardest National Parks to get to. It is located near the very top of Alaska's Inside Passage, so unless you have access to a boat, you would have to fly into Juneau, take a puddle jumper across to the small airport at Gustavus, then taxi to the National Park lodge over in Bartlett Cove, and ride the day boat nearly sixty miles up bay to where all the tidewater glaciers are. Like I said, tough. But we are on an expedition cruise ship, the Safari Explorer, and we plan to spend two days in the bay, exploring some of these uncrowded spots.

One of my favorite adventures here in Glacier Bay is a hard-charger ridge hike at Lamplugh Glacier. Lamplugh used to be a tidewater glacier back in 2015 when I first showed up. It calved ice right into the ocean as we kayaked by. Then it receded back enough to leave a terminal moraine, or mound of dirt and rocks, in front of it that we could walk on. Now it has created a small lake behind the moraine. The adventures in front of the glacier keep changing, but the ridge hike always stays the same. Monolithic rocks, that were once scoured by the sides of the glacier but were hardy enough to remain, are just beckoning to be scrambled up. The higher you climb, the more amazing the views. At our highest point we could see Lamplugh glacier's terminal face at one end, and an almost infinite amount of crevice filled ice heading like a road off and over the horizon at the other end. Our ship looked tiny, dwarfed by the mountains and flooded fjords surrounding us.

Glacier Bay has a way of making you feel very small, yet connected to it all at the same time. It is something to experience, at least for the few that can make it here.

We had beautiful conditions for our cruising time in Glacier Bay National Park.

Lamplugh Glacier has changed over the years dramatically. There was just a small ice garden, trapped by the receding tide on the terminal moraine.

We landed on the rocky terminal moraine of Lamplugh to begin our hike up the ridge. This is the mound of earth that the glacier pushed in front as it advanced, then left behind when it receded.

Hiking higher as our trip gets lower.

Hanging glaciers dot the landscape at the back of the National Park.

One of the guests noticed interesting clouds forming in a far off arm of the fjord.

The hard rocky underfoot provides a nice walking surface, but the dense willows and alder make trailblazing a little more difficult.

Looking back to make sure my group is making it up ok.

This was the view from our first overlook, looking down into the crevices of Lamplugh Glacier.

It is a bit sad to see the deflated face of Lamplugh, getting lower and more angled as it slowly disappears on the beach.

Close up look at the top of Lamplugh Glacier.

I was surprised to see some late season lupine on the ridge hike this morning.

Every time I turned around to check on my group I just had to take a photo to try and capture the amazing view.

I pushed my hiking group to their limits this morning. They stopped and delayered multiple times. The gnats got worse as we got higher. That was all the group needed to keep going.

Lichen on the rock.

Some fresh bear scat on our trail reminds us that we are not alone up here.

Getting higher...

Scrambling down safely was a team effort.

Lamplugh Glacier.

Lamplugh Glacier heading off into the horizon.

We ended our hike back on the terminal moraine, at the ice garden in front of Lamplugh.

As always, keep traveling and keep posting!
Dai Mar