Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
Just before turning down the Glacier Park Road, you get this stunning view of the Matanuska Glacier in its full glory. There is a wide pullout here to stop and take photos.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
These grates over the foot of the glacier are constantly being moved by glacier to provide safe passage over the equally changing glacier surface.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
These fun little features that litter the surface ice of the glacier are cryoconite holes. They form when silt deposited on top of the glacier absorbs solar radiation and melt the ice. At a certain depth, the silt insulates the ice.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
Glacial ice appears blue due to its density. The ice is so dense that, when light hits it, long, slower wavelengths (i.e. red) get absorbed. Only blue, which has a short fast wavelength, manages to get refracted back out of the ice. The darker the blue, t
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
The main headwall of the Matanuska on blue bird summer day. Notice the tiny ice climbers rappelling down and climbing back up the face.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
The beautiful and magnificent Matanuska! The intersecting lines on the main headwall (left) indicate the different movement patterns of the glacier. Different ice flows that create this glacier merge and flow in slightly different directions.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
As summer goes on, small cracks become yawning crevasses that are difficult, if not impossible, to cross. Navigating the glacier is definitely a fun experience in the summer.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
The early part of the hike can feel just like a regular rocky trek, but notice all the ice beneath that layer of rock—about 400 feet in this spot, to be precise!
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
Crevasses provide a beautiful look at the dense blue ice underneath the aerated ice of the surface. Don't get too close though!
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
On the way up the hill to the left of the headwall, going toward the blue pools. This sunny slope can get quite slippery on nice days when the ice becomes coated with a layer of meltwater.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
The view after cresting the hill. The blue pool lies just over the small ridge to the right. This slope itself is a little steep for just microspikes (crampons would have no problem), but you can follow a small ground crack at the bottom of the hill.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
Hiking down to the blue pool. If you bring ice climbing gear, you can also rappel off the ice wall, where the single person stands for an even cooler, up-close view.
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
The fantastic blue pool during summer 2018. While blue pools are regular appearances on this top left section of the headwall, they change slightly from year to year. Who knows what this one will look like next year!
Amber McDaniel
Photo Date: 
01/15/2019
The view from the King Mountain overlook, a wide pullout just off the Glen Highway. Below runs the Matanuska River, whose headwaters are the very glacier you trek on, and in the background is the stunning conical King Mountain.