Hiked up to the Harding Ice Field today in Kenai Fjords National Park. This trail joins the Half Dome trail in Yosemite and the Bright Angel trail in the Grand Canyon as one of my all-time favorites — it’s only four miles one-way, but the elevation changes two or three thousand feet and the terrain is rough so it’s definitely not easy. On one side of the trail is a valley containing the massive Exit Glacier, and on the other is a steep slope grazed by mountain goats. The whole way up the views were amazing, my heart was pumping, my legs were burning, and I knew what it meant to be alive.
About half way up the trail the 750 square mile Harding Ice Field comes into view, and the crevasses of Exit Glacier begin glowing blue in the light. Once at the top the ice field stretches off to the horizon, with mountain peaks barely sticking out of the ice here and there to serve as reminders of just how massive the ice field really is. There’s also a small storm shelter near the end of the trail, and inside are hundreds of messages written on the walls by people who have hiked the trail — most are brief quotes of utter joy with a name and date attached. Anyone hiking the trail in the future can try to find a few short words left by a traveller from California on September 9, 2002. An amazing day.