Blue Ice Trail

Sunday, February 6th 2011

We spent my 25th birthday hiking with friends. We headed out of the city about an hour. Stopped for lunch in Girdwood where we all stuffed ourselves with some friendly and nourishing cholesterol and carbohydrates. The drive down was amazing. Cliff face on one side, sea ice on the other. The sun was shining and the temperature hovered around 25 degrees. Once we arrived we piled out of the truck, prepared our packs and headed out. The first trail that we did was the Blue Ice trail, winding around, in and out, over creek and river. I had my camera in hand, Peter had his binoculars. He spotted a couple little avian friends but wasn't able to get close enough to identify them. He did however spy a lone sheep quite high on a mountain side. Too far for us to see, with our eyes, more than an off color dot on the slope. We took a detour to view a glacier, walking through a valley full of avalanche debris. A stubborn little creek had tunneled under a particularly large pile, making me wonder how long it had taken?

We walked until the sun started to set. Casting huge swathes of color into the darkening sky.

It was a wonderful day, with good friends, and glorious views. I think our eyes were drunk with beauty by the time we headed back to the city.