Halibut and Hiking

Okay, so I told you I would tell you about the bucket of but and the hike of a lifetime. First I have to tell you about our Finnish neighbors next to Resurrection River. As you know, we camped at a pull-out along Exit Glacier Road. Several nights, a rental camper parked there with us. One night as we were playing Pegs and Jokers in Larry and Connie's rig, there was a knock on the door. A gentleman with an accent wanted to know if we wanted some halibut. Well, our resounding answer was YES! It seems he and his wife had gone out on several charters and caught more fish than they could eat. We all went over to his rig to check out the halibut. His wife came out and said that it was good fish, but they had been eating it every meal for several days and they still had too much. They gave us several large fillets and some cheeks. The next day I made fish tacos, but I didn't really like the flavor. I am going to have to experiment with halibut to find the best way to cook it. Connie still has hers in the freezer.

Bob and I had been chomping at the bit to get out and hike, but the weather was always too dreary for the hike we wanted to take. So, on our last Monday in Seward, the forecast was for a beautiful, sunny day. Bob and I immediately started planning our hike to Harding Ice Field above Exit Glacier. This is a picture of the map on the kiosk near the visitor center. To check the whole map click on this link . We hiked the entire trail! Now, you have to add the distance from the visitor center to the trail head which is .4 mile each way, so the hike was nine miles!

 On our last visit to Exit Glacier in 2010, we hiked to Marmot Meadows, but weren't prepared to do the ice field hike. The hike to the meadows is enjoyable, but also quite a climb. The trail climbs about 1000 feet for every mile. From this bridge, Bob and I could look down toward the glacier overlook and see the bridge where we rested on that hike the previous days.

 Once we made it to Marmot Meadows we saw the only wild mammal of the day, a hoary marmot sunning on  a rock.

Then we walked out in to the meadow. It was gorgeous! The flowers were in bloom, arctic lupine was the predominant bloom. The backdrop to the meadow was Exit Glacier.

 

 I got a picture of Bob in the meadow with the view of Resurrection River and the road behind him.

 This is me on the trail through the meadow.

 

 We paused for a snack and some water before heading UP the cliffs.

 It was a steep climb to the top of the cliffs. Bob made it to the top of these stone steps.....

... before I got more than a few steps up. Part of it was because I wanted the picture of the steepness of the climb!

 We took our lunch break on a rock at the top of the cliffs. From this vantage point we could see ice climbers out on the glacier. Yes, they look like more cracks in the ice as we were quite a ways above them.

 A group of youngster (recent college graduates) also stopped on the rock for lunch and they took our picture since there wasn't a place for Bob to put the camera where it wouldn't fall over. That is the top of Exit Glacier in the background.

 Then it was time to continue our hike. Since we made it to the top of the cliffs, it was time to hike through the snow and ice and over ridges to get to the ice field. The trail was marked with small orange flags.

 It wasn't far before we got to a ridge where once we crossed it,  we wouldn't  have a view of Resurrection River in the distance until our return hike. I think you may be able to see our campsite from here.

 The amount of snow increased, we were hiking to an ice field, after all.

 At times it looked like we were hiking Chilkoot Trail from Alaska's gold rush in 1898. The people behind us looked really small!

 Finally, we made it to the emergency cabin at mile marker 3.9!

 The cabin sits on a rock outcropping with nothing but snow around it. Bob checked inside and found that is contained two snow shovels plus graffiti.

 It was not much farther to the end of the trail and a spectacular view of Harding Ice Fields!

 And what should I spy as we are making our way around the rock outcroppings at the end of the trail, but bunches of pink flowers growing out of rock crevices!

 I have to say that the hike to the ice field was strenuous, but well worth it. The views were stunning.

 We chatted with some other people that made it to the end of the trail and took turns taking each other's picture.

While we were eating lunch, I figured out how to take a panoramic view with the camera on our phone. Here is the result for the end of the trail.

 We spent quite a while at the end of the trail enjoying the view. Harding Ice Field covers over 300 square miles and feeds 40 glaciers.

 On the way down, we decided it would be a good night to get our bucket of but at Thorn's Showcase Lounge. As we hiked down the trail, we thought it over and decided we might be too tired to go to Thorn's. Maybe the next night would be better. As we neared our campsite, Larry and Connie were headed to the park to look for us! They spotted us and turned around to meet us. The area around Exit Glacier has no cell service and they got worried when they couldn't reach us. From the time we left the RV and returned to the RV ten hours had passed!

The next night, Bob and I celebrated with a trip to Thorn's. We thoroughly enjoyed our bowl of but as it is now called. We sat at the bar in Thorn's and had a beer while our fish cooked, then we took our bowl of but back to the RV to enjoy our special meal.

It was time to move on to the Kenai Peninsula the next day. We weren't sure where we would end up since there were wildfires burning around Sterling.