Seward, AK 2014 - Day 5

Exit Glacier

The Vigor team that’s working in Seward met this morning for breakfast at Salmon Bake, which is a small, rustic cabin-like restaurant in the woods, right down the road from Exit Glacier. We had invited Justin to drive over from Kenai to join us for the hike, so he and his buddy Andrew arrived at the end of breakfast and we all headed out. I saw an adorable little porcupine on the drive and he just looked so cuddly I wanted to stop and pet him but we were in a caravan and we couldn't hold up all the Vigor people. Next time. 

Some of the group before the hike

The Vigor guys were already way ahead of us
Bye, fellas!

There were a few trails to choose from at Exit Glacier. One was an 8.2-mile day trip up to Harding Icefield, one was just over 1-mile round trip to the edge of the glacier, and one was simply a trail to an area called the Outwash Plain where rainfall, snowmelt, and glacial outflow constantly change the direction and levels of the streams. 

We took the lower, easier hike to the edge of the glacier. I am dealing with a partially torn calf muscle and my physical therapist told me to only hike the glacier if I wanted to risk re-injuring myself which would then require surgery. Of course I don’t want to have surgery, but I also don’t like to be told what to do, so I hiked it anyway. The hike offered incredible views. We reached the massive glacier and Chad told Justin how to get up close so he could touch it. So Justin, Andrew, and our kids took off on an adventure, climbing rocks they probably weren’t supposed to climb, blazing their own trail, and making their way to the glacier.

We later learned that as they approached the glacier, a park ranger waved them back and wouldn’t allow them to come close. There are certain times when people are allowed to approach the glacier depending on the position of the ice and other factors, and apparently this wasn’t one of them. So they all went down to the streams, instead. Chad and I finally found them after a long time of wondering where they’d gone. At first, when we couldn't find them anywhere, I worried that maybe Justin had turned into a serial killer in the years since we last saw him. That was literally the first thought that entered my mind when I wondered where they'd gone. I’m not even kidding.

We found them alive

When Chad and I finally found them they were down at the streams, alive and well. Justin brought us a chunk of the glacier he found that had been floating by. We all held the ice and saw this incredible iridescent reflection inside. Then we all licked it. It tasted like glacier.

Do you see the iridescence in the center?

Justin, Andrew, and the kids had built cairns, which are just little stacks of rocks. The small towers dotted the banks of the stream, and they looked really cool. As I was photographing them, I noticed a park ranger walk over to one. He lifted his leg and kicked it over with his big, mean park ranger boot. He did this to a few more of them before I asked him why he was knocking them down. He said they need to keep the area looking as natural as possible. Another park ranger that was with him said, “There’s this new thing where everyone stacks rocks like this. I guess they think it’s cool.” Um. It is cool, Mr. Ranger. And people all over the world have been doing it since the beginning of time. But I just laughed nervously and said, “I know! It’s so dumb,” as I hid my camera and pretended I hadn't just been taking a picture of one.

As soon as Justin saw the park ranger kicking down all their cairns, he started rebuilding them because I don’t think he likes to be told what to do either. The kids joined him in rebuilding their masterpieces, but I was too scared because I like to obey rules. Just not rules laid down by physical therapists. What do they know, anyway?

Mid-kick

Justin beginning the re-building process
(the park rangers are in the background
probably boasting about the number of dreams 
they just stomped on)

On the walk back to the car, Jackson was telling Chad how much he likes Justin and that he wants to be like him when he grows up. Jackson doesn’t say that kind of stuff about people. I said, “Jackson, I can’t think of any other guy on the planet that your dad would rather you grow up to be like,” and without missing a beat Chad said, “Denzel Washington.”

We had been at Exit Glacier for over three hours so we said goodbye to the Vigor Team and drove into town to have lunch at The Smoke Shack. The locals call it The Train Wreck. It’s located in an old WWII railroad car that is arranged with other railroad cars in the shape of a diamond. There is a raised platform in the center of the cars with tables and umbrellas. The other cars have bunks for rent, and the whole thing resembles a train wreck. 

There were seven tiny booths in the dining car. The kids sat at one booth, Chad, Justin, Andrew, and I sat at the other. The food was good, but with only seven booths in the car it felt really cramped. Chad and Justin told more stories and we learned more about Andrew. He moved to Portland from Phoenix four months ago. He just quit his job, bought a one-way ticket to Alaska and is spending the summer fishing with Justin. He is considering buying a motorcycle to ride back to Portland when he’s done fishing and then he’ll see about getting a job. He’s twenty-five and a cool kid. I actually heard the words, “Do it while you can,” come out of my mouth. Over the years, I’ve heard old people say that to me right when they are about to warn me of all the responsibilities and struggles life has to offer. So I stopped myself there and told Andrew his adventure sounds rad. I hope my use of the word “rad” made up for being an old lady. I also made an effort to avoid asking him if he was also going to buy a helmet for his motorcycle and whether he thought that was the safest way to get home. I'm glad I just said "rad" instead.

I wonder what passersby thought

We hung out at the harbor for a bit. Ali and Jackson did trust-falls because that's what they do, we watched a boat get pulled out of the water by a boat lift, and then we said goodbye to our friends. They were going back to Exit Glacier to hike the 8.2 miler. I’m pretty sure we’ll never see them again. We drove out to a beautiful beach called Lowell Point and threw rocks in the bay. I finally learned how to skip rocks. I've never been able to, and I usually don't even try because Chad can pick up a boulder and skip it to China and it makes me so mad. But something happened today. I think it might just be that Alaska rocks are more skippable than Washington rocks.

We took the kids home and Iris Darling, the owner of the building, asked Chad to stop by so she could talk to him. I tagged along so I could meet her and her husband, Hugh. They are so kind and hospitable. Iris had just come from a meeting with the mayor and had some questions about shipyard/boat stuff for Chad because she needs information for the city council meeting tomorrow. She’s a council member, and so I made sure to stand very quietly with my hands folded, being painstakingly conscious to not say something stupid or make a joke that would offend her. I smiled and watched my husband have a conversation that might as well have been in German because I had no idea what they were saying. Well, it didn't sound as angry as German sounds. So I guess I should say it might as well have been in French. 

Next, we took the kids downstairs to Sweet Darling’s for gelato and then came home to rest. Chad has to be at work at 6:30 tomorrow morning. They have about a week left to integrate and train the employees of the new Vigor Alaska and there is a lot of work to do. The kids and I don't have a lot of work to do though, so maybe we'll go find that porcupine.

Alaska Fact #5:

Exit Glacier, the only area of Kenai Fjords National Park accessible by car, is one of thirty-five glaciers that flow off the vast Harding Icefield. The Icefield covers over 700 square miles of the Kenai Mountains. Snowfall on the icefield can exceed 100 feet each year. After 4-10 years of compression, the snow turns into glacial ice.

The Niemeyers