From Afar

 Well after years and years of looking at Knik Glaicer  from afar I decided it was time to check out a way to get to the face.

Knik Glacier 

The Road or trail to the face requires a special type of ride as the trail is full of rocks, roots, Glacier silt, creeks, and rivers with no bridges.

None of my vehicles are suitable for such a ride.

Fueling Up For The Ride To The Ride

What you need to get out to the Glacier is a wheeler or a modern side by each 

I don't own one of these machines and maybe if I asked everyone I knew someone would have one, but then you'd have to get it running, and then get it to the notorious Jim Creek Trailhead where if you leave your vehicle parked without a armed guard, the locals will steal your hubcap’s, and use the gas they syphon out of your tank to set fire to your vehicle, and since they are part of the well-regulated militia they will shoot the flaming carcass of your car full of high power bullets holes.

Googling was required but I found that it was possible to hire one of these machines, and go on a guided tour, and after a couple of calls I booked with Alaska Backcountry Adventure just a short ride away in Plamer.

My traveling compadre Maya Hucklberry was ready for an adventure so on a pretty nice fall morning I picked her up from a dark street on the east side of Anchorage.

We headed out of town on the Glenn Highway. It had been a long time since I headed out of town when the commuters were heading in, and it was a sight to be seen. There were so many cars that I could have been watching a conveyor belt of lights.

All that traffic made me glad I live in a state that is owned by the wealthiest corporations on the planet, the oil companies, because if we were not a lot of those commuters could have been riding in rail cars.

The sun was rising as we nearded our destination.

What A Great Sunrise

We were soon at  Alaska Backcountry getting kitted out in, rubber boots, rain gear, gloves, neck gaiters and hemits.

Our Trail Carriages

After the signing of waivers, and the safety briefing we headed out with our guide in the lead.

I guess part of the adventure of going to the glacier was riding the wheelers over as many rocks, roots, mud, and water as possible, because that is just what we did.

At our first stop I discovered that the only toilet facilities were the woods. Seems odd to me that you would run a business bringing hundreds of people out on the trails every season and there were no facilities, but oh well what do I know?

After a couple of more stops and some deep water crossing of Jim Creek we were at the elusive face of Kink and Colony glaciers.

Knik Glaicer

A few of our party joined the Polar Bear Plunge and walked into the ice water and submerged.

Our guide made us hot lunch of potatoes, reindeer sausage, green beans and what I suspect was some type of Cambells creme of something soup.

The ride back was more direct along the river, where we came upon a couple of young.

Bald Eagles.

Back at the headquarters we were hosed off and gathered our shoes. It was a great outing to a place I always wanted to go to.