Exit Glacier - Kenai Fjords National Park - Alaska

This summer I had the opportunity to spend some time in Alaska. Although the nature of my trip was not recreational, I did find some time to get outside and enjoy the natural, abundant, beauty of Alaska. One thing I really wanted to do was get up close to a Glacier. Talking to some locals, Exit Glacier, on the Kenai Peninsula, was highly recommended. I was told that I could take a short hike to the edge of the glacier and even get close enough to touch it. There were plenty of glaciers to see from a distance but the up-close nature of the Exit Glacier trail intrigued me. So I headed toward Kenai Fjords National Park and set off on the Exit Glacier Trail.

I soon found out that Exit Glacier is a very popular attraction. Alaska as a whole is overrun with tourists in the summer time and it is hard to find any beautiful spot without them (save paying big bucks for a bush pilot to take you out to the middle of nowhere.) On top of that Exit Glacier is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park that is accessible by road. The Exit Glacier section of the park features a Nature Center, close to a mile of wheelchair accessible trails, and an easily access short hike to the edge of a remarkable glacier. All of these factors attracted far more people then I usually like to see at a park
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A very crowded trail to the edge of the Glacier
  

Looking downstream from "Glacier View"

 

Exit Glacier got its name from the first Harding Ice Field expedition in 1968 that used the glacier as an exit point after spending eight days crossing the Ice Field.

When I arrived at the Nature center I immediately took to the trail turning left through the cottonwood forest toward the Glacier View. Glacier View is small wheelchair accessible viewpoint featuring informative signs and mounted viewing binoculars. I continued another half mile or so up the trail toward the edge of the glacier. When I came to the end of the trail I was disappointed to find out the Glacier has receded over the last couple of years and approaching the edge has become dangerous. It looked like I wasn’t going to get to touch the glacier after all. I did, however, come to within 15 feet of the Glacier’s edge which is the closest I have come to a glacier to date.
  

 The view of Exit Glacier from the "Glacier View" viewpoint
  

The Trail to the Edge of the Glacier is a nice, short, easy trail
   

This gives just a glimpse at how huge this Glacier is.
   

This is the closest I was allowed to get to Exit Glacier.Still pretty awe inspiring.

Despite my disappointment it truly was awe inspiring to see such a large chuck of ice slowly carving its way down the mountain.

 A view from the top of the Exit Glacier trail
  

Moose poop is a popular souvenir at many of Alaska's gift shops. I found some for free at the foot of Exit Glacier. I opted to not take any home. 
   

Although I didn’t have time this trip, I would have liked to hike up the 7.4-mile (round trip) Harding Icefield Trail. This trail Starts on the valley floor, winds through cottonwood and alder forests, to a wonderful view of the Harding Icefield. If you come to Exit Glacier avoid the crowds and take the Icefield trail. You will get wonderful views of the glacier on the way while still not being able to touch it.
   
NPS Exit Glacier Trail Map
    

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Huge Kelty Sale at Left Lane Sports

Left Lane Sports is having a huge Kelty sale with backpacks, Sleeping bags and Tents up to 55% off. They have some Kelty Sleeping bags as low as $36.00, Kelty Day Packs as low as $25.00, Backpacking tents as low as $80.00.

You have to sign up for a free membership to see the deals. This is pretty typical of discount gear sites. Go check it out at LeftLaneSports.com 
   

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Vasque Clarion GTX Hiking Boots - Review

For a little more then a year now I have been wearing a pair of Vasque Clarion GTX boots anytime I go hiking. These boots have been my vehicle to the top of Texas, Enchanted Rock, Sierra Blanca, Mount Livermoore, and Hermits Peak. They have taken me down into Carlsbad Caverns, Devil’s Hall, and Palo Duro Canyon. I have carried as little as 5 pounds and as much as 45 pounds with these boots on my feet. Throughout all these journeys my boots have done their job well with ample support and comfort.

Pros:
The Gore-Tex keeps your feet dry in snow, heavy rain, and shallow water crossings. This fact proved its self just recently when a friend and I were hiking in tall grass drenched in early morning dew. My Friend was wearing a pair of Columbia boots with breathable mesh. It didn’t take five minutes before the dew had soaked through the mesh into his socks. When he mentioned something about it I looked down to see my Clarion’s where also soaked from the dew. But my feet were dry, warm, and toasty.

As noted above I have worn these boots in a wide range of different temperatures. When hiking in 110 degree weather on Palo Duro’s Lighthouse Trail my feet still stayed cool. I wore them last Spring when hiking through snow around Taos, NM and then Leadville Colorado and the boots kept my feet warm and dry.

The boot provides plenty of ankle support that has saved my ankle’s on more than one occasion. The thick soles stand up to abuse in harsh desert conditions allowing me to step on sharp agave, and cactus.

Cons:
The nubuck leather has taken some deep gouges and scratches on the toes. I haven’t minded it really…it gives the boot some character.

When Hiking up Hermit’s Peak recently I began to develop two huge blisters on my heels. I was extremely disappointed because the boots had never done that before. When I reached the summit and took off the boots I noticed my sock was not fitting properly in the heels. I were a size 9 shoe. The Large Smartwool socks I was wearing were for feet size 9-11.5. I was at the bottom of a very large size range. The next weekend I traded them in for some Medium Smartwool made for feet size 6-8.5 The very next weekend (with the blisters barely starting to heal) I spent 3 days backpacking in the Lincoln National Forest. For the entire length of the trip my blisters never hurt and only continued to heal. The socks were the culprit…too much slack in the heel of the large socks was allowing my heel to slide on the steep switchbacks up Hermit’s Peak. With proper fitting socks my Clarion’s deserved an apology.

My only real complaint is too little toe room. My toe’s have barely enough room to be comfortable. I have to clip my toenails before any type of downhill hike or my toenails really start to hurt.

Bottom-line:
I really like these boots. They have proven themselves in comfort, waterproofing, support, and ruggedness. After wearing these I bought my wife a Vasque boots and myself a pair of Vasque trail running shoes.

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Sierra Blanca - Summit Hike - New Mexico

Last Labor Day weekend a friend and I decided to head out to south-central New Mexico to summit Sierra Blanca. Sierra Blanca rises 11,973 feet (some sources say 12,003 feet) above sea level and about 8,000 feet above the surrounding desert floor making her the most prominent peak in New Mexico. The peak is owned by the Mascalero Apache Indian Tribe and is considered the sacred place where “the creator gave us life.”


We decided to make to most of the long weekend and camp a couple of nights near Ice Spring in the Lincoln National Forest Just three miles from the summit. Early Friday morning we arrived at the Scenic trail head adjacent to the entrance of Ski Apache. There was plenty of parking and only a couple of other cars present giving us hope of a secluded hike. We loaded up our packs and headed up trail # 15 0.6 miles to its intersection with the Crest Trail #25. Crest Trail continues to the right and left. We followed the Crest Trail to the right. A little after a mile from the trail-head we came into a large open area with a small wooden sign that reads “Trail no 25”. (located at:  33°24'7.44"N 105°48'15.73"W)  It is difficult to see which direction the trail goes as it seems to disappear in the open grassy field. Turn left at the sign and look for where the trail reenters the trees. From there we continued another 1.5 miles to the intersection with Lookout Trail #78 near Ice Spring. We checked to make sure we had enough water for the night before continuing up the Crest Trail to the ridge. We spent a little time trying to find a good place to set up camp and eventually decided the flattest ground was right next to the trail. We pitched the tent and then hiked about 100 yards to a nameless summit to cook dinner and watch the sun set.

 Starting Out at the Scenic Trail-head.

Trail sign where Scenic trail #15 meets Crest trail #25 (go left toward Lookout Trail)

Aspen

The Crest Trail runs adjacent Ski Apache for most of this hike.

More views of the ski area from the Crest Trail.

Crest Trail near our Campsite.

The view of Sierra Blanca from our dinner spot.

Our camp site on the Crest Trail

Early the next morning we left most of our gear at our campsite hoping for light packs for the summit. We hiked back down the Crest Trail to Ice Spring to filter some water for the day. We then continued down Lookout Trail #78 toward Lookout Mountain. Both ice spring and Lookout trail, although on National Forest land, lie within the ski area boundary of Ski Apache. Lookout trail takes you along different ski runs eventually reaching the summit of Lookout Mountain (11,580 feet). Lookout Mountain is Sierra Blanca’s northern neighbor and is a worthy summit in its own right. For this trip Lookout was only a stopping point for us to eat breakfast.

 Ice Spring (Purify any water you intend to drink)

Hiking on one of the ski runs

White Sands New Mexico as viewed from just below Lookout Mountain

At the Summit of Lookout Mountain the National Forest service has built a circular stone seating area with concrete bench seats and metal plaques pointing out interesting facts about the surrounding topography. It appeared that two of the plaques where missing (Both the Southwest and Southeast plaques were gone.). But The other plaques pointed out the location of the first A-bomb detonation to the Northwest in the Malpais Lava Beds, and the birthplace of Smoky Bear in the Northeast Capitain mountain range.

 Site of the first A-bomb explosion as viewed from Lookout Mountain

Capitan Gap: Birthplace of Smoky Bear as viewed from Lookout Mountain.

We cooked some freeze-dried eggs and fried a little summer sausage for breakfast before continuing. From the top of Lookout we walked along the ski area's jeep service road before eventually leaving the ski area boundary. The saddle just north of Sierra Blanca is aproxamently 600 feet below Lookout Mountain and close to 1,000 feet below Sierra Blanca’s Summit. From this vantage point Sierra Blanca looked very intimidating.

 Breakfast on the summit of Lookout Mountain. Sierra Blanca can be seen in the distance.

Yum...freeze-dried eggs and fried summer sausage.

The path to the Summit passes through Ski Apache.

Sierra Blanca and the ski area's jeep service road.

Past the ski area there is no trail. Here and there you find various remnants of trails other hikers have taken to the summit. For the most part we made our own path zig zaging up the steep grassy ridge. The next 500 yards climb steeply at about a 32% grade before leveling off at 11,672 feet. We then followed a rocky exposed ridge 200 yards before the final push to the summit. The last 250 yards is a rock scramble up a 42% grade. At the top there is plenty of room and majestic views in every direction.

 Starting up Sierra Blanca's North Face before it got real steep.

Our path up to the summit began to look very intimidating.

An exposed ridge along the path to the summit.

Looking down from the exposed ridge.

 The steep path up to the summit with some fellow hikers slightly above us.

As we made our way up the summit we began to run into several other parties doing the same thing. As it turns out Sierra Blanca is a very popular destination on Labor Day weekend. We saw at least 3 other hikers who had their dogs along with them and began to joke that literally “everyone and their dog” had come out to summit. All and all we spent about 30 minutes on the summit resting and taking in the abundant views. We signed the summit log and took a few group pictures for other groups when a thunderstorm started to threaten the summit. We took this as our cue to go and headed back down the northern ridge.

Looking back down on our path up.

 A crowded summit on labor day weekend.

Looking West from the summit.

Looking North from the summit

Looking East from the summit as a thunderstorm began to roll in.

Survey marker pointing toward the summit marker.

Survey Marker

An abused Summit Marker

Summit Log

Some well earned rest on the summit

Standing on the Summit

Last view before heading down.

We arrived at our campsite stopping once more at Ice Spring to fill up on water. The thunderstorm never hit us and for that we were thankful. In the morning we loaded up our gear and headed back down to the parking lot. We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.

The Hike:
Miles: 4.37
Starting Elevation: 9,600 feet
Ending Elevation: 11,973 feet
Elevation Gain: 2,373 feet
Map: USGS Topographic Quadrangle cropped to 8.5x11
Map: Lincoln National Forest Trail Map

Getting There:
Trail-Head: 33°23'59.23"N 105°47'22.29"W
Trail #15 meets Trail #25 (go left): 33°24'1.12"N 105°47'36.19"W
Ice Spring: 33°23'56.01"N 105°48'55.02"W
Our Campsite: 33°23'57.26"N 105°49'6.59"W
Lookout Mountain Summit: 33°23'26.85"N 105°48'42.70"W
Sierra Blanca Summit: 33°22'26.55"N 105°48'32.65"W

Remember that just past Lookout Mountain you are crossing into the Mascalero Apache Indian Reservation. According to their website a permit is required to hike on their land. Such a permit is hard to obtain and may not even exist. Call Vincent Hubbard the Tribal Administrator at (575) 464-4494 for inquiries about a permit. No one we saw on the summit that day had obtained a permit and judging by the number of names in the summit log I suspect most people just take their chances. Use your best judgment.

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