Those of you that know me, know I have an abundance of emotion bottled inside and it spills out regularly. 🙂 I’m often overwhelmed with feelings surrounding the events of the world, the accomplishments of my family and the beauty of the planet. Nothing has been more apparent to me on this trip to Alaska than the understanding that our planet is beautiful and priceless. We need to take care of it.

On our way out of Seward, we made the twenty minute drive to Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. There are multiple hiking trails. One will take you all the way to the Harding Icefield over four miles from the hiking start point. Harding Icefield feeds Exit glacier and multiple other glaciers across the area. It stretches seven hundred square miles and is over one thousand feet deep of ice.

Other hikes take you to the Exit glacier overlook or the outwash plains. We chose to do the two and a half mile hike to the outwash plains and then the glacier overlook.

The Outwash Plains has rushing water grayed by silt brought down by the glacier. The water braids into thin rivers that twist and turn. The entire area is pebbled by large balls of ice. It’s quite the site.

Our hike to the overlook had some steep climbs and the ground was damp and muddy from recent rains, but it’s a friendly hike for all. As you crest the hill and walk the roped trail, you are hit with this large glacier with ice blue veins running through it. It is magnificent. I stood at the edge of the overlook and tears filled my eyes.

This glaciers helped to carve the mountains around us. The melted ice feeds into waterways. This has been going on for so long–much longer than any of us can even really imagine. And we have an impact on whether it continues to go on. These beauties are receding. Their survival is our survival.

We’ve met many people on this journey. So many from other places who visited and never left. At first, I wondered how that would be possible. The summer’s are all daylight. The winter’s are all night with negative temperatures being the norm. Even in late June, it feels like winter to this Floridian. And yet, it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Alaska gets into your blood. ~Gina