Up and moving relatively early today for the last planned activity of the 50-State Journey. Today, we are hiking on a glacier!  The entire reason we are at Grandma Brolene’s House (that’s the lady who owns the house) is because of this hike.  The Matanuska Glacier is one of the largest healthy glaciers and after finding that, we just searched for nearby AirBnBs.

I don’t think these views will ever get old!

The roads had a bit of curve to them 🤢 and then we traveled down a very Alaskan road, until we reached Matanuska… WOW

We got our helmets – we will never forget helmets again! – and were ready to go!

Our guide, John, has been in Alaska for 6 seasons, but is from Charlotte, NC originally. We decided we got the best guide there was (especially when other guides started shouting questions to him on the hike). He pointed out some wolf prints as we made out way to the glacier’s terminus, the toe or end of the glacier.

 This was incredible to see!

We learned a LOT on this hike  One thing that we all really thought was cool was that all of this that appears to be gray/dirt and rock is actually glacier.  If you touch it, it is ice – dirty ice, but ice.

We were also impressed with the blue ice.  Because of the depth and wavelengths and all that sciency stuff, glacier ice looks blue.  All along the glacier were these seems that looked like someone spilled a blue shushie.  In places it looked like it was neon glowing underground.

 

Most glaciers are on state and federal land so hiking isn’t allowed.  The Matanuska Glacier is owned by a local indigenous tribe and they lease this small portion to our guide company.  You can only hike with a certified guide and only on a very small portion. The glacier is over 27 miles long and 2-4 miles across.  We walked about 1.3 miles in and 1.3 miles out. Glacier hiking is limited not just to preserve the glacier, but to protect hikers.  Under the ice of a glacier are puddles and streams of water that can open up at any time.  Maybe the opening is small, but it can create a crevice big enough to fall into.

 Before we got to the actual white ice of the glacier, we had to put crampons on our shoes.  These are like snow chains for your shoes. You slide them over the outside of your shoe like a sock, and there were chains and spikes that dug into ice. It was crazy how much easier walking became once we put on the crampons. (Seriously thinking of ordering some for ice weather at home.)

 

When we called yesterday to check arrival time, the operator said to give yourself 45 extra minutes for road construction. We were outside the construction zone so we arrived for our 11am hike at 9:40am. Thankfully,” they were able to add us to the 10am group, and it worked out great! We hiked with a group of military members from Kentucky who were in Alaska for training. Today was their team building day.  They were great – cussed like crazy, but so fun!

 It was like being on another planet. Just unreal. We all kept saying “can you believe we are on a glacier?”

 One of the best parts of the day was when Chris used tools to create two small holes on the side of hill. The higher hole acted as a sediment deposit and the lower hole became a fountain or us to drink pure glacier water.  I so wish we had brought our water bottles, but we made do with our hands.  This was the BEST water we have ever had. Ice cold and so clean tasting.

 

On our hike out, we passed a pile of white powder which was the calcium deposits from the glacier silt (glacier flour), and hiked through a solid crevice. 

 Definitely one of our coolest adventures!

At the end of the hike, Chris showed us an aerial photo of the entire glacier. There are folks that go all the way to the summit of the mountain at the end of the glacier.  The fastest recorded time is 31 days – one way. We covered about half of this little area, and that was just enough!

We headed out of the glacier canyon (yikes this terrain) and were starving! Christ suggested we grab lunch at the Long Rifle Lodge nearby.  So glad he suggested this, but the outside didn’t really indicate that it was a restaurant at all, but oh my goodness the food! And our waiter was originally from Murphy, NC!

Click the photos below to enlarge and note the time, the dessert arrived and the time when the plate was empty!?! One minute!! They were like velociraptors.  Thankfully, I didn’t loose a hand in this feeding.

 We really didn’t have a lot to do the rest of the day (not surprisingly, Glacier View isn’t a hot bed of activity beyond the ). We stopped at the Matanuska Glacier State Recreation Site (Alaskan version of a State Park), and once in the recreation site, we decided to check out the Edge Nature Trail – holy cow!  These views were stunning!  And this was by far the funniest sign we’ve seen on a trail… not just a moose, a Very Aggressive Moose LAUGH 

 We got back to Grandma Brolene’s house and while I caught up on the blog (offline, because there is little to no signal in this area), this crew was wiped out! At least for a little bit. Once they recharged, they were ready to enjoy having a bit of space – which is the best part of an AirBnB.

And then what may be my favorite pictures of the trip… somewhere in Alaska, they realized they kind of like each other. ♥️

One thing we have learned throughout Alaska is that everything is usable, and nothing is wasted.  The same is true at Grandma Brolene’s house… leftover cabinets or closet doors?  How about the bottom of a bathtub used as a top of the shower?

After recharging and starting to think of packing options for tomorrow’s travel home, we headed out for dinner at another place that several folks at the glacier tours suggested, Sheep Mountain Lodge. Good gracious!  They know how to cook in Alaska!

These 2 and this view… 

Since Grandma Brolene’s wifi is really really slow and there is no television, we have played a lot of cards.  I’ll be honest, it wasn’t just the boys who had a hard time with this initially, but we have really enjoyed the time.  Lots of cards, talking and laughing! Couldn’t ask for anything better with my boys!

 

Tomorrow is our last day but with a late night flight, we still have a whole day and a bit of travel before we make it back to Anchorage. I feel certain we will find some adventures along the way!