Crazy, unique, once-in-a-lifetime, unhinged……
If you are up for some type 2 fun & live on the wild side, this Alaskan adventure is a must do when visiting nearby Anchorage.
The Knik arm is only about 1 hour from downtown & I opted for a shuttle pickup. After a brief safety video, we suited up in our cumbersome dry suits & booties. Then we quickly got whisked away to board our 3 guest seat helicopter, where I fortunately got to ride shotgun on the way out to the glacier.
We rose over an embankment dominated by spruce trees, then immediately saw the massive glacier gleaming under a gorgeous sunny day. Chunks of ice were floating & eventually melting into the small bay, while massive crevices awaited us as we climbed over the ice field. We flew a short sightseeing loop & eventually made out a few specs below (that were actually people) marking our landing site.
After donning spikes/crampons & a safety helmet, we immediately got to float in the glacial water at a frigid 34 degrees to test out our dry suits. The key was to have multiple layers on underneath because while the dry suits did their job, it was still brutal standing on ice for a couple of hours. So surprisingly, I felt good all over except for my hands that I unsuccessfully tried to keep non-exposed.
Up next was the feat that excited me the most, which was a 5 foot jump into one of the icy blue pools. Crazy…. yes! But absolutely a must do. Standing above this glacial masterpiece, the color palette was ridiculously mesmerizing as the shades of blue reflected differently for every pocket based on its depth. The adrenaline rush just prior to my jump was hard to describe, as I plunged into the pool with both wonder & terror. And I’ll also never forget the massive smile on my face, which was proof once again that we can do hard things & push our own limits.
But that wasn’t the end of our excursion, as we then got to explore the glacier by foot. After scaling a small ice mountain & trusting in our spikes, we followed some of the runoff into a winding canyon where we actually got to sit down to float through a few bends.
Then, I was pleasantly surprised that our guides had chosen to have us hike through a natural slot canyon. AYKM?! If you know me, one of my favorite natural phenomenons is wandering through these crevices in southern Utah so to get the opportunity to experience one on a glacier was truly my pinnacle of happiness. Squeezing through a few narrow sections that were at most 2 feet wide, the walls eventually opened up & dumped as back to our original pool. Can I do it all over again???
The pilot arrived in a flash with another group of unsuspecting tourists & picked us up for one last loop above the crazy web of ice crevices. En route back to base, we saw a few wild moose in the glacier runoff & already started flipping through our countless photos/videos that really don’t do the whole experience any justice.
This is one of those adventures that you truly have to experience for yourself & top 10 craziest on my extensive travel resume!
