July 3, 2009 – Exit Glacier

This morning found us taking a walk to Exit Glacier.

This glacier is 3 miles long and comes from the Harding Ice Field above it.  The Ice Field is a remnant of the Great Ice Age.  Currently it is 50 miles long, 30 miles wide, and no one is sure how thick it is.  About 150 – 200 inches of snow fall on the field yearly but then it is compressed into ice and continues to build.

Here is our first view of the glacier – it is impressive:

 

We decided to do the hike to the side of the glacier first:

 

The blue coloring – oh my!

 

The designs and layers – another oh my!

From there we decided to walk to the toe of the glacier.  When we were here two years ago, we could not get close because of the river but this year…..

This is looking at the toe from the side of the glacier:

To get there we had to cross some of the streams coming from the glacier:

Andy did well – I unfortunately got wet – LOL!  And let me tell you – it was COLD!!!!

Up close and personal with water that may be THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD:

More of the toe:

Look at that blue and the designs – Mother Nature at its best:

The melting waters from the glacier:

Our last look:

We took the nature trail back – what a beautiful walk.

It turned out to be a beautiful day here at the Bay:

 

And even seals came out to play:

We went to the Legion for supper – Steak Night – MMMMMM and had a great time talking with the locals and visitors.  Back at the MH, we had a campfire and waited for the fireworks display at midnight.  Our neighbors in the back joined us – and here is a picture of the beach at around 9 PM:

 

We watched a cruise ship leave:

And the fireworks at midnight – yes, it is still light – :-)

To all:

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!