Hiking at Mendenhal Glacier

[chinita415]

Wow, the pictures are amazing! I signed up for the same hike but now I'm worry that I might not be physically fit enough to do all those hiking/scrambling. Was it really tough? I hike in the Catskills once or twice a year so not sure how hard this will be compare to the Cats.

 

I've never been to the Cats so I can't really compare. But do realize that most of the hike is on unmaintained trails, if there IS a trail! I am in decent shape and it was tiring at the end of the day. The hardest part was not really physical endurance. You have to be agile enough to handle to scrambling up and down large and sometimes slippery rocks, loose gravel, muddy paths, etc. Have you looked on their website for the video? I also have more pix and descriptions here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1421385

 

Go with good footwear, don't be afraid to get dirty and slide on your butt, you are good!

[QQK]

I've never been to the Cats so I can't really compare. But do realize that most of the hike is on unmaintained trails, if there IS a trail! I am in decent shape and it was tiring at the end of the day. The hardest part was not really physical endurance. You have to be agile enough to handle to scrambling up and down large and sometimes slippery rocks, loose gravel, muddy paths, etc. Have you looked on their website for the video? I also have more pix and descriptions here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1421385

 

Go with good footwear, don't be afraid to get dirty and slide on your butt, you are good!

 

What a great travelogue!!!! We will be taking pretty much the same route except with Diamond Princess. Do you think we need bug repllent for the hike? Both of us a mosquito/bug magnets!

[chinita415]

What a great travelogue!!!! We will be taking pretty much the same route except with Diamond Princess. Do you think we need bug repllent for the hike? Both of us a mosquito/bug magnets!

 

My sister is a bug magnet too and we did fine in mid May without any sprays. But I read somewhere here that the mosquitoes are starting to come out in Juneau. I would search for that thread.

[seamour]

We were there last week and our bus driver said there were 2 juvenile bears but they were hanging around the bus parking lot. I would check with the rangers at the glacier when you go. They have some junior glacierologist displays too for your daughter. It could be for older ones, too. I enjoyed it. Have them pick up a book for a scavenger hunt and recipes. We also touched some 250 year old ice--really cold but so clear.

 

This is really an awesome place.

 

was all this in the visitor center?

[seamour]

Seamour -- might I suggest doing the hike first -- time seems to fly by and if you do the visitor center first, you might not make it to the hike. We only had 45 min which was too short for the hike once we got there. We be slow. The Glacier is pretty awesome and messmerizing to me. And this was after Tracy Arm.

 

-jmho. Colleen

 

thanks for the tip Colleen. We are going to head out there on our own and it is the only thing on our agenda, so I am not worried about running out of time. (just energy!)

[seamour]

What a great travelogue!!!! We will be taking pretty much the same route except with Diamond Princess. Do you think we need bug repllent for the hike? Both of us a mosquito/bug magnets!

 

can you just see me getting lured into reading another travelogue, I just cannot seem to help myself!

[Serangel71]

was all this in the visitor center?

 

Seamour -- all but the bears. There is a film too but skippped due to time. I was mezmerized by the glacier. There is quite a bit there and with the crowds, it will take some time if you want to enjoy & take in its beauty.

 

We barely had time without film.

[Serangel71]

thanks for the tip Colleen. We are going to head out there on our own and it is the only thing on our agenda, so I am not worried about running out of time. (just energy!)

 

 

Seamour -

 

Then you will have time. Enjoy it all - need to go back again. If have the scavenger hunt for the kids, I would look into it.

[QQK]

We just came back from the 7 hours hike with Above & Beyond and it was awesome!!!!! We went with Dawn, Steve and Todd. It was quite a challenging hike since it was raining/drizzling the entire day so the path/rock surface was very slippery (and the backpack was heavy with the harness & ice axe). We got lucky since by the time we got back to the parking lot, it started pouring! Definitely a must do! I still remember how amazing the view was when we got to the opening and had our first look at the glacier. We were simply speechless.

 

One thing to note though - there were a lot of mosquitoes, especially in the parking lot, and we had to use spray. They were trying to bite through my long sleeve shirt!!!!