otoh

Continuing the story I started here, here, here, and here:

The Mat-Su valley is a glacial valley rimmed by the Chugach Mountains, Talkeetna Mountains, and the Alaska Range. The name comes from the Matanuska and Susitna Rivers, two glacial streams that empty into Cook Inlet near Anchorage. We started our journey on the Susitna side of the valley and we were winding down on the Matanuska side. On the glacier.

Leaving Hatcher Pass we went through Palmer and then northeast to the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site. We had a reservation with MICA Guides for a day of climbing.

I have walked on a glacier before (in the Canadian Rockies) and I’ve seen a glacier calving (near Seward, AK) [that was really cool btw], but I was a little nervous about climbing on one. We had assurances from the guides that it is a challenge well within the reach of beginners though. And it’s not like we were summiting Denali. Our longest climb was no more than 50 feet or so.

It is a strenuous activity — mostly because it takes a while for someone as naturally unathletic as I am to learn the proper technique. But it is something that pretty much anyone can do and I liked it enough that I would do it again. Of course, it helped that we had absolutely gorgeous weather that day — clear skies and temps in the 70s. (Although it was cooler than that on the humongous block of solid ice, I was not cold at all that day.) And our guides did a good job.

The scenery was breathtaking.

And I did alright.

Overall, it was the best part of the trip. But we weren’t quite through….