Harding Ice Field Trail

Blog for August 15, 2016

This strenuous 4+-mile trail follows Exit Glacier up to Harding Ice Field. The 936-sq-mile expanse of ice was not discovered until the early 1900’s when a map-surveying team discovered that eight coastal glaciers flowed from the exact same system. Today we, and Ian and Carolyn Muir, returned to Kenai Fjords National Park, and Exit Glacier, and hiked, via a steep, roughly cut trail to the 3500ft Harding Ice Field. 

As we’ve been told before, the trek was “worth it”. I don’t think we have every had a view of an ice field like this one. Not only did we have a wonderful view of the ice field but of Exit Glacier and the valley below. 

 Getting trail advice from Ranger Sumner. Carolyn and Ian Muir are our hiking partners.

Part way up the trail, a view down the valley toward Seward.

Approaching the top of Exit Glacier. The vegetation was almost tropical.

Top of Exit Glacier sweeping down from Harding Ice Field.

Ian and Frederick approaching the edge of the glacier overlook.

We look as if we are at the edge of Exit Glacier but it is probably a quarter mile away.

Looking back down the valley from higher up.

Near the top of the of the trail was a beautiful meadow absolutely filled with flowers.

Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see the details of the flowers. What a treat!

Also near the top, on the other side of the trail, using the telephoto lens setting, we noticed these dozing Mountain Goats. At first we thought they were white rocks.

View across the top of the Harding Ice Field.

The Harding Ice Field extends across the top of all the surrounding mountains.

As we approached the top end of the trail we had to traverse several snow-fields.

I believe that these red streaks on the snow patches are algae.

Lunch on Harding Ice Field.

Lunch views like we have never had before.

Exit Glacier flowing from Harding Ice Field.

Lunching with friends on Harding Ice Field.

As we were coming down we noticed that the goats had wakened up, moved across the trail and were traveling across an ice field. The little one in the front was just beginning to frolic across the snow.

More of the goats beginning to cross the snow.

About a half-mile from the end of the trail we encountered a crowd of people stacked-up along the trail. All traffic on the trail had been halted because of a "bear event." At a bridge 500 yards further along, a mama grizzly and her two cubs had been frightened and the cubs had climbed a tree. Mama was guarding her cubs from the bridge and no one could cross the bridge. Rangers were on the scene and somehow they were able to get the cubs down from the tree and mama to remove them from the bridge area. 

Some people at the head of the line of hikers had to wait for over 2 hours for the bears to move away from the bridge. This was a first for us - delay by bear. We only were delayed about an hour. (Our bear spray did not help at all!)

Hikers stacking-up behind us and...

hikers waiting in front of us.

Today's hike:

Length - 9.2 miles

Duration - 9 hours, 38 minutes - at this point the Fitbit died because I had it on GPS which uses a lot of power, but we were pretty close to finishing when I noticed it was dead.)

Elevation gain - 3,200 feet (320 floors on the Fitbit)