Kent & Laurel had spent their morning doing a glacier helicopter tour and once finished had rented a car. Our plan was to ditch our tour group and meet up with them at the visitor's center. Before leaving the ship that morning, we had grabbed a couple of sandwiches from the International Cafe and those became our "lunch on the go" that we ate in the van on the way to the glacier.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Our tour van pulled into the visitor's center parking lot just as Kent was parking the rental car...a red PT Cruiser! One advantage to traveling in Alaska (as opposed to a foreign country) was that we had cell service...so much easier to stay in touch and coordinate plans!
The visitor's center had various exhibits to explore and had a great view overlooking Mendenhall Glacier.
Misty rain was still falling, but with waterproof gear...coats, pants, & shoes...we were prepared for the one mile hike to reach the base of Nugget Falls next to the glacier.
The gray, cloudy day made the blue color of the glacier and the icebergs even more vivid.
It is hard to get a feel for just how massive the glacier really is...either in person or looking at these photos. To help give a little perspective, there are a couple of kayakers on the left side of these photos. They are pretty much invisible on the first picture, but as you zoom in, you will see how tiny they appear next to the giant (house size!) iceberg. Even more amazing is that the majority of these icebergs are UNDER the surface of the water! (Remember the Titanic??)
The rain, although it was light, was unrelenting. I don't think the day could have gotten much more gloomy!
After hiking the mile back to the visitor's center, the guys wanted to explore some more. Laurel and I took refuge in the car and spent time looking at photos from our morning tours while Bob and Kent went off looking for other trails.
The guys returned about an hour later just as Laurel and I had gotten out of the car to take "just a few more photos" of the glacier from the overlook near the parking lot.
They were all excited telling us about a bear they had seen on the trail. I was pretty sure they were lying (from past experience) but they had evidence! Kent had taken a video on his cell phone! The bear was up in the top of a tree, chewing off branches. They would not have seen him except they heard and saw the branches falling. They stood and watched him for some time and even saw him stick out his behind and pee from the top of the tree!
Bob insisted the bear was right at the beginning of the trail. Feeling a little more refreshed after our rest and drying out time in the car, Laurel and I set off with them to find the bear. Turns out the bear sighting wasn't really at the beginning of the trail...and by the time we reached the spot the bear was gone.
Even without a bear, the hike was enjoyable. Everything was covered with thick moss and ever so often we would pass a marker showing where the glacier had reached at one time before starting to retreat.
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