denny.yang
3000 Feet Above a Glacier
It is often difficult to comprehend and appreciate the size and scale of a glacier until you’ve seen it from the air. Mendenhall Glacier here for example is 13.6 miles long, 3.8 miles wide, around 2000 feet at its deepest, and rises from beneath sea level to over 6200 feet in elevation.
Having seen glaciers from a distance on foot in Iceland, it was a completely different experience to see one via helicopter. We flew over the glacier for several minutes before landing on a flat area for some hiking. A few things that amazed me while flying overhead though was how deep the crevasses were, how insanely blue the ponds of melted glacier water were, and how far the ice field stretched up into the mountains. But most of all, the sheer size of the glacier was just incredible.
The other remarkable thing was the visible path of dirt and sediment that revealed the flow of the glacier as it bent around the curves of the mountains on its way to the sea. The path must have represented decades of movement.
If you ever get a chance to visit Juneau, Alaska the Mendenhall Glacier is definitely worth a visit!
3000 Feet Above a Glacier
It is often difficult to comprehend and appreciate the size and scale of a glacier until you’ve seen it from the air. Mendenhall Glacier here for example is 13.6 miles long, 3.8 miles wide, around 2000 feet at its deepest, and rises from beneath sea level to over 6200 feet in elevation.
Having seen glaciers from a distance on foot in Iceland, it was a completely different experience to see one via helicopter. We flew over the glacier for several minutes before landing on a flat area for some hiking. A few things that amazed me while flying overhead though was how deep the crevasses were, how insanely blue the ponds of melted glacier water were, and how far the ice field stretched up into the mountains. But most of all, the sheer size of the glacier was just incredible.
The other remarkable thing was the visible path of dirt and sediment that revealed the flow of the glacier as it bent around the curves of the mountains on its way to the sea. The path must have represented decades of movement.
If you ever get a chance to visit Juneau, Alaska the Mendenhall Glacier is definitely worth a visit!