Hiking to a Glacier in Alaska

My hiking group, feeling accomplished, after hiking to the face of Meares Glacier, here in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Meares Glacier is a beautiful, yet mysterious glacier at the head of Unakwik Inlet in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Unlike nearly all of the other glaciers around here, Meares glacier is advancing. It has steadily moved forward since it was first described in 1905. As it pushes a mound of earth in front of it, the glacier bulldozes through old growth forest, upending trees with abandon.

Today this is the wild area that we were exploring on our expedition cruise. Even though it was late May, it felt like winter in Alaska has hung on a bit too long. That didn't dampen our spirits, in fact, after our morning adventure we all took a refreshing dip in the waters of the fjord. But first it was adventure time, and we could choose between kayaking, skiff tours, or a bushwhack hike through the forest, to the face of the glacier.

The winter rains and snow melt made our first river crossing difficult. Instead, we bushwhacked our way up into the high forest, and then found a bear trail heading in the right direction. We had several peek-a-boo moments with the glacier. We also heard sporadic thundering noises from giant chunks of ice calving off the face of the glacier and splashing down in to the fjord waters below. It was a bit eerie hearing this thunderous noise, but not seeing it because the forest was so dense.

Then, the trail just ended. The glacier had advanced through the rainforest. Trees were lying all over each other in a jumbled mess. I wasn't even sure that we would be able to get out to the rocky pickup area. We got uncomfortably close to the towering face of the glacier, but then we were able to backtrack safely out onto the rocky shoreline. We were far enough away from any falling ice to be safe from ice shrapnel. The view was absolutely amazing, as was the adventure itself.

Now time for the polar plunge followed by a dip in the hot tub. This is the life of adventure!

A rookery of black legged kittiwakes calls this cliffside home.

My group of hikers starts out after getting dropped off on this rocky beach.

Our first obstacle, getting past this river.

Watching our feet as we try not to top our boots in the river.

We had to do a little bushwhacking after the river got too wide to cross.

This was our first view of the glacier from our forested hike.

Look at this moss-filled rainforest. Just magical!

This temperate rainforest is a lichen lovers delight!

This was a bushwhack-lite for some, and a full on bushwhack for others, depending on their mobility and skill.

Now we have a good view of Mears Glacier. Giant chunks of ice had been falling off and crashing into the water while we hiked. It was eerie hearing it, but not seeing it.

An old rotting tree stump plays host to lichen and moss.

I had a big group, so I had to stop often to check in on the folks in the back. Everyone did great though, and accomplished something they normally wouldn't have without a little prodding.

Meares Glacier is an anomaly in the today's world, it is a glacier that is advancing. Here it is bulldozing its way through the rainforest, knocking over old growth tree as it does. It has moved about a hundred feet forward from where it was last summer.

Rainforest destruction from an advancing glacier.

What an unusual scene, from the dynamic face of Meares Glacier.

We were walking here last year....but not today.

We had just enough room to pop out of the forest and scramble down the hill, to find a safe distance to watch the glacier from.

I wonder how long these trees will last before being bulldozed over by the glacier.

We made it to the face of Meares glacier!

Always interesting to see the blue ice of a glacier against the dark black rocky shore.

This starts to give you a sense of scale.

A shoot, right to the face of the glacier.

I approve of the folks on top of the rocks, but I had to call blue jacket to get farther away from the face of the glacier.

These two are up on the rocks from the last photo, much farther from the glacier than they look!

Even looking away from the glacier is a beautiful Alaskan scene.

Some of my hikers, checking out Meares Glacier.

After our small boat picked us up, I was able to get this photo to see just how far the glacier has advanced since the last time I was here.

After our hike, I decided to have some more fun with the guests. I invited them to join me for a polar plunge!

There was some interesting form from our brave jumpers.

Nothing bonds people together like shared adventure and a dip into icy Alaskan waters!

As always, keep traveling and keep posting!

• Dai Mar