Pinch Me Places: Matanuska Glacier

Late in July, the lovely Robin and I had a wonderful whirlwind visit to the forty-ninth state in the U.S.A., the "last frontier," Alaska. On the last day of our stay, we set out on Sunday afternoon in the company of our hosts, George and Jeanne Baker, and our friends Eloisa and Jeff Martin, for the Matanuska Glacier.

After roughly an hour and a half of driving (we started out forty-five minutes from Anchorage), the Matanuska Glacier came into view. Approximately twenty-six miles long (see the photo of the glacier's length here), and four miles wide at its terminus, it is classified as a valley glacier--a body of solid ice that flows like a river under its own weight through an existing valley.

We entered the Matanuska Glacier Park, a privately owned park that is the glacier's only access point and stopped at the office to not only pay the entrance fee but also to sign waivers saying any injury while walking on the glacier would be our problem, not theirs. Then we drove a couple miles on a dirt road to the parking area and started walking.

At first it was hard to believe we were walking on a glacier, because the ice was largely covered with rocks and grit. But after many steps on the darker surface, we reached the glistening white areas of the glacier, and many crevasses where the deep blue of the glacier glowed up at us!

Walking on the surface of a glacier is definitely a "pinch me place." I want to do it again--and I want to take my kids and grandkids, and maybe pay to go on one of the guided tours and ice climbing options that are available!