Glacier Mania!

This weekend was a weekend meant for enjoyment...but also for training for the hiking extravaganza that will be the 4th of July weekend. This upcoming weekend, Paul and I will be hiking the 4 major ridgelines in Juneau, totaling roughly 38 miles and 17000 vertical feet. It will be completely insane, but also 100% awesome. But, back to the training. I love training in Juneau. It involves hiking and biking -- and lots of it. Plus, when can you say that you are training by hiking on and around a glaicer :-)


I started the morning at 8:30 am by hiking up onto the East Glacier Trail with a few roommates and co-workers. It's a nice hike up through the woods, with some nice views of the glacier from a distance.
It got me very excited about hiking down close to it later in the day.


This is the cave that I had taken pictures of up close last week, with this one taken from across the Lake. It was also where I would be just a short few hours later.

After this hike, I relaxed for a bit, watching the Eurocup final. Then, I went on a bike ride (to pick up groceries), and afterwards biked my way off to West Glacier Trail. This trail takes you up to the Moraine, as well as the trailhead for Mt. McGinnis (on the list for next weekend). The hike was good fun this time around as I had several other people to hike with (and Paul doing the ceremonial picture-in-picture):

As well as some gear for hiking on the glacier (mainly, an ice ax):

The hike was very nice, with great views of the towers:

And Paul contributing to the melting of the glacier :-0

Up top on the glacier made for some great views and questionable hiking spots:

The hiking was great...about 8 miles in all. That, plus the 6 miles of bike riding, certainly left me a bit worn out, but there isn't much better a feeling. That, as well as finishing the day with pizza, beer, mariocart (on Wii), and an amazing sunset, and it was a great day of fun! Now, I can only look forward to the big fun next weekend. Keep your eyes out for updates!