Starting up Mt. McGinnis via the West Glacier Trail. The lighting
was great thanks to good luck with our weather and a 6:30 am departure.
By the time we got to the glacier (about 8:00 am thanks to a few
pit stops), the lighting was perfect. FYI that's peanut butter in
there, surprisingly, not cheese dip.
Here's a zoom in on the some of the cracks
& caverns of the glacier. Quite something isn 't it?
Once we hiked a little further we could see
the tents of the glacier trekking group. You could pay lots of
money to walk around the ice with these people if you wanted to.
The last little bit of the West Glacier Trail.
The trail becomes the Mt. McGinnis route after about 3 miles or
1.5 hrs of hiking.
Once leaving the glacier trail, the route
becomes quite a bit steeper. I have no idea how long it took us
to get up this part.
Martha, now out of sight of the glacier, but
the scenery is still spectacular.
Here's "Way to turn 50" M. Cheese
Miller. I'm so glad we did that.
Martha and I once we got a bit closer to the
top.
Views from the ridge line. The sharp points
of rocks were at one time all that was sticking out of the Mendenhall
Glacier ice.
Looking up the Gastineau Channel into Lynn
Canal from the ridge.
What hikin' babes! We made it to the summit at
about 1 pm and still had loads of time for lunching, wandering
around and taking lots of photos, and other recreational activities
:)
Total miles hiked: 11
Elevation gain: 4,224 ft
Hey nice butt! Along the way
we saw loads of mountain goats. In fact at the summit we were
looking DOWN on a group of 4 resting in the meadow.
Dan
Moller Trail
Martha, Mary & I on our Mt. McGinnis training
hike #1. This is the back bowl behind the cabin. Background is
the mountains of Admiralty Island.
Martha & Mary - that little bunch of gray
flat area in the background is downtown Juneau.
Mary, Sparky and me at our lunch spot.
Two peas in a pod - This is Sparky and his
good buddy Pod.
Outer Point & Sheep Creek
This is a rather boring picture
of the mainland from Outer Point beach, but I like the shadows
& contours of the land. Very typical Southeast Alaska.
Here's me trying to avoid the stinging nettles of Sheep Creek.
They were out in full force the day of the hike.
These are some of my favorite pictures from
the Outer Point trail. Sparky and I spent quite a bit of time
there this last summer. Its always good to have a hiking companion
and photo model, even if he is a bit hairy and long in snout.
