Thursday, April 23, 2009

Bear Bonanza in Alaska - August 28 2008

We chose to visit Exit Glacier national Park and hike the Harding IceField trail today. The hike is long, goes through taiga, tundra and a lot of ice with creeks, a bridge and waterfalls and is supremely beautiful with lot of wildflowers and expansive views. It climbs 3200 ft in 4 miles and takes the entire day. We even saw a black bear very far away munching on berries and a marmot wobbling around in the tundra like a cute fat baby. The end of the hike after walking on a lot of ice offers endless views of the vast expanses of the icefield, and the blue Exit glacier crumbling away from the icefield. On the return, with great difficulty (being the end of a very long tiring day) we also did the loop hikes in the base of the Exit Glacier. Global warming is so real in these places with the glacier receding at an alarming rate. We had pizza for dinner at Lombardo' Eatery in Seaward and walked back while gazing at the cruise ships leaving the harbor at dusk.

No comments: