Chase asked, “Do I get to hike right next to a real glacier? We learned about them in school. “ I remember how the book learning fell to real life when I began the travel odyssey. Learning is exciting. And we trekked up the hill, and found exit glacier very cold, (who would guess that) and huge, and shrinking. We grandparents played a wonderful documentary called Chasing Ice, to bring home the fleeting nature of the century old, living monuments.
Simply put this Glacier is a drip from Harding Icefield which extends on top of the mountains between Seward (Kenai Fjord National Park) and Homer. The Harding Icefield is thousands of feet thick, but it does not completely bury the underlying mountains. Over 30 glaciers of different size and type flow outward from the Harding Icefield. Some of these glaciers are tidewater (Aialik Glacier) or terminate in lakes (Skilak Glacier), and some end on land (Exit Glacier).
Alaska glaciers account for less than one percent of the Earth’s area currently covered by ice, but a recent study suggests this ice is melting quickly. Y’all come sooner than later.
