Day 7- Harding Ice Field

Kaeli and I drove to Seward and hiked to the Harding Ice Field. I wondered when I told people I wanted to hike it, and they all said, "oh, you should do that once"... they really meant Once. It was the most strenuous exertion I have endured since college swimming. The hike was about 9 miles, including the hike to the trail head, and climbs over 3000 feet. It goes along Exit Glacier and climbs up so there are views of the Harding Ice Field. It was pretty much uphill the entire way until we reached the top, with lots of switchbacks, it felt like going up hill FOREVER. And it was raining- we got into the clouds pretty quickly and it was cold and wet and drizzly, and the air got cold because of the cold glacial air, and every part of the path was my least favorite. The beginning was pretty moderate, and then it was full of rock staircases, and the rocks were slick with the rain- I didn't like that part. But then the path went through loose rocks, with no real defining path, and I didn't like that much. But then the path went through snow, lots of snow, with streams running through it and it was slippery and slowed you down a lot, and I didn't like that. Finally we hiked through the snow up to a shelter built in case of bad weather, which meant we were almost at the top- and then on past that to get to the end. It felt really good to be at the top, but it was cloudy and foggy and we couldn't get a good view of the icefield. It was a little disappointing after all that work to not have an incredible view at the top. I enjoyed going down hill much better, except when we had to slide through the snow, or when we had to go down the steep rock stairs that were slippery and muddy, and by that point, we'd seen what there was to see, so I just wanted to be at the bottom, but every time we looked down, there was a LONG way to go- when we finally saw the parking lot it stayed the same size for a long long time, never getting bigger. We had a fabulous dinner in Seward after. My feet were really sore that night, but I felt pretty good the next day, my legs just felt the way they did when you added extra new weight to your squat set in weightlifting.

Moderate, easy path starting out:


They only give you bridges to start- later on you just wade through


People getting a tour on the glacier- gives it some scale:



See the people on the glacier?


People on the glacier just over my shoulder






Same people on the glacier:


Reaching the snowy bit




Yes, that's a glacial stream running under the snow we need to walk through


More of the glacial stream


So tired and cold, it's hard to keep my eyes open


FINALLY saw the weather shelter, our signal that we're almost to the top:


Shelter still seems very far away:


Finally at the top- see those beautiful views of the ice field... yeah, neither did we. It's probably really cool though...






Starting to climb back down







The climb down was endless


Starting to get below the clouds






Marmot... we think... what else would be in "Marmot Meadow"?