Thought we’d take a break from blogging about Japan and talk about our trip to Matanuska Glacier in Alaska. If you’re visiting Anchorage, consider renting a car and driving 2 hours out to Palmer (NE of Anchorage) Â to visit Matanuska Glacier. We went ice climbing with Mica Guides and it was one of the most memorable experiences we’ve ever had in our years of travel! We’ve NEVER ice climbed before!
GETTING THERE
If you don’t want to drive, there are tours that provide transportation as well. The ones we considered was Tours Alaska. We ended up renting a car since we needed it for the rest of our trip so we drove to Palmer.
31090 West Glenn Hwy
AK 99674
(907) 351-7587
www.micaguides.com‎
THE SCOOP
The meeting place for the ice climbing trip is right next to the entrance to the trail that leads up to the glacier which is located just past Mile 102 of the Glenn Highway. According to Mica Guides website, driving times from other locations are as follows:
- Anchorage: 2 to 2 1/2 hours
- Palmer: 1 1/2 hours
- Wasilla: 1 1/2 to 2 hours
- Valdez: 4 to 4 1/2 hours
- Glennallen: 2 hours
- Denali: 6 – 8 hours (via Wasilla)
- Seward: 5 – 6 hours
- Fairbanks: 7 – 8 hours (via Tok and Glenallen)
We had no prior ice climbing experience. The guides took very good care of us and taught us how to ice climb. By the end of the approximately 6 hour trip (~$130/person plus Glacier access fee), we were able to scale vertical walls of glacier and was climbing up and down a crevasse! The experience of learning how to ice climb and the breathtaking views of the Glacier was just out of this world!
For those who don’t ice climb, you can still visit the glacier and take a trekking trip with guides (I highly recommend it as the glacier can become a dangerous place if you don’t know where to step, where not to step and if you dont have the right gear on).
OUR ITINERARY
Here’s our rough itinerary of the day ice climbing with Mica Guides:
- 7:30AM: Leave Anchorage for 2 hour drive to Mica Guides in Palmer
- 9:45AM: Paperwork, meet guide and group, put on gear
- 10:30AM: Leave for the glacier aboard a van. It’s about a 10 minute drive if I remember correctly from the Mica Guides meeting point to the Glacier. You can also walk the trail if you’re not going on a tour or with a guide.
- 11:00AM: After a short hike to a couple of picnic tables, we stopped to put on our crampons.
- 11:00AM – 4:00PM-ish: Hiked on ice/glacier, learnt how to ice climb on mini bumps and small walls of ice, practice scaling vertical walls of ice, visited the “silver” lake, refilled our water bottle at a “glacial water fountain”, hiked to higher grounds with breathtaking scenery and climbed down and back up a crevasse (we couldn’t see the bottom of the crevasse… we basically climbed down as far as we felt comfortable and then climbed back up).
If you don’t feel comfortable doing any of the climbs during the trip, you can opt to not ice climb. Â Enough said… here are pictures! Rest of the pictures located here.
Following are pictures of us climbing the crevasse – our final climb & test of all that we’ve learnt that day. To think that we knew nothing about ice climbing just a mere few hours before this and was able to ice climb down and back up the crevasse is just amazing!
Do let us know if you go to Matanuska Glacier and tell us about your experience!
Let us know too if there are any specific places you want us to blog about (we might’ve been there and can share photos and our experiences!).
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27 Comments
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WOW! Breathtaking. >> Ice Climbing at Matanuska Glacier, Alaska http://t.co/sLXHOnpj via @idelish
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I’ve never been to the Matanuska Glacier but I took a helicopter trip to the top of a glacier near Skagway. It was amazing, but I have to say, no where near as beautiful as the pictures you took of Matanuska. Amazing shots, those colors are just thrilling!
Kate recently posted..Plan a great vacation: 7 activities to help you decide where to travel next
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Thanks Kate! We’ve always wondered what it’d be like to take a helicopter trip over a glacier. Maybe one day we’d be able to experience the same!
Jeremy & Shirlene recently posted..{Tips} When Less is More. Black and White Travel Photography
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Seriously.. how is it that you can make climbing ropes look pretty?! Lol. This looks like loads of fun. What a great way to experience Alaska. Adding to our never-ending BL. 🙂
Kieu ~ GQ trippin recently posted..5 Mouthwatering Meals in Miami-
LOL! It helps that we were surrounded by beautiful scenery! Definitely a must do when you’re in Alaska! Glaciers are receding as we speak – so go soon!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..Malasadas, a Must Eat in Honolulu, Oahu.
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{USA} Ice Climbing at Matanuska Glacier, Alaska http://t.co/LlKWt59Y @idelishTravel
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{USA} Ice Climbing at Matanuska Glacier, Alaska http://t.co/6xXrP7u
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{USA} Ice Climbing at Matanuska Glacier, Alaska http://t.co/qFwVCvy #iceclimbing #adventure #travel #Alaska #glacier
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Beautiful! You guys were so brave. I saw a show once where the host was learning how to ice climb- it looked really hard! Great job.
Grace recently posted..Up in a Hot Air Balloon-
The good news is, you don’t have to do anything you are not comfortable with. Knowing we could stop at anytime or refuse to do anything if we were not up for it, gave us the assurance and confidence to give it a go! No regrets!!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} Juleh, the Magic Word in Leh
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Thanks for stopping by TexaGermanadian & Red Nomad OZ! Yeah – definitely different from Oz! I used to live in Melbourne, so this is definitely a different landscape. That's why you should go visit Alaska!
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Wow! That's SOOOO different to the sun and sand of outback OZ!! What an amazing adventure!!
Thanx so much for playing 'Round the World'!!
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Again, such amazing photos. Looks awesome. Thanks for sharing!
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That's good to know! I'm sure you'll have a great time when you go. Don't forget your cameras!
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This looks like so much fun! Wow! Never even heard of ice climbing until now! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 We are definitely going to try this when we venture up to Alaska!
