Day 10 - Exit Glacier

Sign seen on way to Exit Glacier

Me - the closest you can get to the Glacier

Chuck and I in front of Exit Glacier

Close-up of the Glacier

Chuck on path back from Glacier

This is how Chuck says he spent his whole trip - keeping me out of danger

After visiting the Stimson, we went over to Exit Glacier. The Glacier received it's name because it was a good place to "Exit" the Harding Ice Field. All Glaciers are really blue. This is because the ice is very dense since all the air bubbles have been squeezed out. The Glacier acts like a filter with only the color blue having enough energy to escape. All other colors in the spectrum are absorbed by the ice.

This is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park which is accessible by car. You can drive up to the Glacier, then hike about a mile back to the face of the Glacier. Up until the 1990's you could walk up to the Glacier and touch it. The Glacier has become so unstable that is no longer allowed. Some people have been killed at Exit by falling ice. We thought the hike was fairly strenuous and poorly marked. At least we thought so until we passed an elderly woman making her way down from the top with the use of a cane.

The retreat of the melting Glacier is clearly marked as you drive up to the visitors center. Signs along the roadway indicate where the Glacier was at different points in time. It is easy to see the Glacier began melting much more rapidly around the 1970's. Here is more info on Exit Glacier:

http://www.alaska.com/activities/glaciers/story/4646278p-4605707c.html

Here is a little video I shot at the Glacier. Chuck is a little cranky because he thinks we need to be getting back before it gets dark and I am ignoring him while taking my time shooting this movie. It's a typical slice of our life. It was very windy at the top and hard to hear anything we say. Eventually, you see Chuck start back without me.