Matanuska Glacier Hike - Sutton, Alaska
“A man who keeps company with glaciers comes to feel tolerably insignificant by and by.” - Mark Twain
“A glacier will frequently move forward one foot while retreating three feet… Which reminds me a lot of myself!” - Charles Schultz
The Story -
We woke up early on Friday morning, our last day in Alaska, for a two hour drive northeast on the scenic Glenn Highway from Anchorage to hike the Matanuska Glacier. It was a wonderful way to wrap up our Alaskan adventure, perhaps even the highlight of the trip for me.
Ice Ice Baby -
Hiking on a glacier does sound intimidating and it is not for everyone. A glacier is basically a large, slow moving river of ice and can be very dangerous. Glacier conditions change constantly and present treacherous new challenges daily. Therefore, I do recommend hiring an expert glacier guide to assist you as well as wearing a helmet and crampons on your hike. And don't step in any puddles, they can be much deeper than they appear.
Rolling Stones and Rock n Roll -
The Matanuska Glacier measures an incredible 27 miles long by 4 miles wide and is the largest glacier in Alaska that you can access by car. In fact, the parking area is just a mere 300 yards from the glacier’s edge! After checking in with our guide Amanda, we put on our crampons and helmets and headed out for our hike. The first half mile of our hike was on the mostly flat terminal moraine which is composed of glacial till - a combination of clay, sand, and fine gravel left behind by the moving glacier. Glacial till is apparently very good for your complexion and is sold in the gift shop. Amanda let us try some directly from the glacier for free! We also encountered several small ice-melt ponds that Amanda encouraged us to swim in. Alex was tempted, but ultimately came to his senses and passed on the idea with the rest of us.
We next stopped by a massive rock that Amanda mentioned had walked nearly thirty feet since May. What? Rocks cannot walk! She explained that the sun melts the area outside the rock’s shadow, causing the rock to eventually roll off its perch. This happens many times over the course of summer due to the long summer days, allowing the rock to walk!! Crazy right?
The next two miles of the hike take you deep inside the glacier. When I say “inside” the glacier, I really mean it. You trek into the interior of the giant moving ice mountain, surrounded on all four sides by white. I had no idea how much activity goes on inside a glacier. From the outside, it looks like nothing more than a giant, solid hunk of ice, but inside, there are flowing rivers, lakes, dirt mountains, deep crevasses and narrow caves created by the constant melting ice and running water as the glacier shifts around. We took our time exploring each of these features, sampling some 700 year-old ice and even filling up our water bottles with the cold, fresh and pure glacier water before embarking on our return hike.
Wrap It Up -
Hiking the Matanuska Glacier was an amazing experience and one I hope to have the opportunity to do again soon. It was truly unique and unlike anything I have ever done before.
