Updated on December 31, 2021

Day 7 of 2021 Alaska Trip, Mendenhall Glacier and Ice Cave

Seventh day of my 2021 Alaska trip and my first of two days in Juneau. Weather was fine today so I took the West Glacier Trail onto Mendenhall Glacier after exploring its famous ice cave. It ended up being such an awesome experience.

Mendenhall Ice Cave

Located conveniently just outside the City of Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier was probably the best (if not the only) tourist attraction around Juneau. While most visitors admired its beauty from Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, on the eastern shore of Mendenhall Lake, it’s possible to reach the glacier on foot via West Glacier Trail on the opposite side of the lake. Even better, Mendenhall Glacier was famous for its ice cave, and I was so spellbound by its pictures of blue wavy crystal shapes, which I would be checking out today.

Mendenhall Glacier Trail

After picking up lunch supplies from a grocery store along the way, I reached West Glacier Trailhead just before 11am.
From the trailhead, West Glacier Trail went about 3.2km one-way to an overlook of Mendenhall Glacier. However, the trail to the ice cave forked from West Glacier Trail at about 2.1km mark, after which it continued for about 2.9km. West Glacier Trail was wide and well-maintained, suitable for people of all fitness conditions. The Ice Cave trail, after forking from the main trail, had some narrow and steep sections. There was one boulder wall that required minimal scrambling (entry level YDS class 2), that should be mostly safe when dry.

Trailhead

The trailhead parking lot held about 50 cars, and I thought that rarely filled up. There was a pit toilet at the trailhead, together with a boat lunch, with views of Mendenhall Lake and (partially obstructed) Glacier.
These photos were taken after my hike.

Distant Mendenhall Glacier
The view was partially blocked by a small hill in the foreground which the trail would scale over.

Mendenhall Lake

Trail

Here’s GPS tracking:

Right off the trailhead, the trail passed through a rainforest that’s heavy with moss along the shore of Mendenhall Lake. The trail was flat and well-maintained, and it’s a worry-free stroll.

Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail

The slope of the hill right next to Mendenhall Lake was so gentle, that at a few places the trail came rather close to the shore of Mendenhall Lake, where I made a brief pause.

Mendenhall Lake
Distant Mendenhall Glacier
Distant Nugget Falls
Island in Mendenhall Lake
Shore of Mendenhall Lake
I don’t often see shores without cliffs or beaches.

Rainforest
Muddy Pond
Trail in Rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforest

Then the trial became slightly not as flat as it made its way up a small hill towards the intersection.

Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail

Trail

The only section before the fork that’s slightly steep, where the trail took on a few (not very necessary) switchbacks. Handrails were installed so that average people could access West Glacier Overlook.

Creek
Creek
Creek
Creek

40 minutes after I started and 2.1km from trailhead, I reached the intersection and made a right turn, continuing onto the unofficial trail towards the glacier.

Trail

After the fork the trail was narrower and occasionally required one to duck through the opening in the woods. Amazingly, it’s not overgrown at all.
Trail

After the fork the trail was narrower and occasionally required one to duck through the opening in the woods. Amazingly, it’s not overgrown at all.
Trail

After the fork the trail was narrower and occasionally required one to duck through the opening in the woods. Amazingly, it’s not overgrown at all.
Trail

After the fork the trail was narrower and occasionally required one to duck through the opening in the woods. Amazingly, it’s not overgrown at all.
Trail

After the fork the trail was narrower and occasionally required one to duck through the opening in the woods. Amazingly, it’s not overgrown at all.
Trail

After the fork the trail was narrower and occasionally required one to duck through the opening in the woods. Amazingly, it’s not overgrown at all.

With the trail being in a rainforest and close to a lake, I expectedly ran into some mosquitos along the way, which took away some of the enjoyment.

Trail on Rock Surface

The trail passed through this rocky surface on an inline. During my visit the rocks were dry and provided enough traction that I could walk on it without worrying about slipping. Looking down.
Trail on Rock Surface

The trail passed through this rocky surface on an inline. During my visit the rocks were dry and provided enough traction that I could walk on it without worrying about slipping. Looking up.
Water Crossing
Trail

This part of the trail seemed to be crossing a dam, where water flows downwards towards the lower right.
Pond
Downstream of the previous dam.

Muddy Trail

After leaving West Glacier Trail, the remainder of trial to Mendenhall Glacier wasn’t well maintained. A portion of the trail was so close to the edge of Mendenhall Lake that the lake’s water made it rather muddy.

After crossing a few muddy spots, the trail made its way up a small hill.

Mendenhall Lake
Shores of Mendenhall Lake
The trail would scale the small hill in the foreground next.
Bay in Mendenhall Lake
Where the trail passed and I took the previous photos.
Pond
Hill

After crossing the small pond in the foreground (there was a dry passage in the lower-center of this photo), the trail continued uphill.
Hill

The trail would then reach the top of this hill. Later I caught up with the group of hikers in this photo, which was made of a lady from Juneau and her out-of-town parents.
Dog

The previous party’s dog. He’s certainly a better rock climber than the lady’s parents, so he caught up with me. The lady said that he had been on this trail many times and certainly not worried about getting lost.
Overlooking Mendenhall Lake
Overlooking Mendenhall Lake
Boulders

Scrambling Section

A steep rocky wall which one must climb atop to continue on the trail. The climb wasn’t any difficult at all, during my ascent I didn’t even use my hands.

After scaling over these rocks one would catch the first sight of Mendenhall Glacier up front.

Mendenhall Glacier
First sight of this massive glacier up front.
Mendenhall Glacier

Taken at the same spot as the previous photo but during my return. The skies was clearing up very slowly.
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier

After that the trail followed along the giant rocky surface towards the glacier. Critically, one would encounter a creek crossing (p1-p2 below), where the creek was sort of wide and direct crossing may not be safe. I pondered at the scene for a while, before the previous group of hikers caught up with me, and the local Juneau lady informed me that one should take a left into the bushes. The path was marked by red ribbons, but they were small and hard to spot. Unless someone pointed that out I would never notice. After travelling in the bushes for a little while, one would encounter a wooden plank (p3 below), which made the crossing much easier.

Torrents

This was a creek that one must cross in order to reach Mendenhall Glacier and Ice Cave. However, the water here was strong and there didn’t seem to be any exposed rocks where I could set my foot on.
Torrents

Downstream of torrents in previous photo. I didn’t want to carry the risk of being swiped away in this current. Neither did there seem to be any viable crossings downstream.
Plank
Upstream of torrents in previous photo. This was a much safer way to cross.
Currents here weren’t as strong.

After that, I continued towards the glacier, while soaking in the unique sceneries surrounding me.

Terrain

After scaling the giant rock wall and with Mendenhall Glacier in sight, the trail forked into many paths and became hard to distinguish from the surrounding landscape.
Terrain
Rocky Slope
There seemed to be a river of smaller rocks on the right.
Birds on Shore

Many birds made these bushes their breeding grounds, so the park authority set up signs and ropes to keep hikers away from the bird habitat.
Birds on Shore

Many birds made these bushes their breeding grounds, so the park authority set up signs and ropes to keep hikers away from the bird habitat.
Flowers
Blooming beautifully
Mount Bullard
Nugget Falls

As I got closer to the glacier, the rocks that surrounded the trail grew darker in color, a sign of them being recently carved by the glacier.

Expedition Team

Some local companies offered guided tours of Mendenhall Glacier where they would kayak across Mendenhall Lake, and then set foot onto the glacier while tethered together. Later I crossed paths with this group on the glacier.
Terrain

A creek formed by melted glacier water flowed towards Mendenhall Lake. The spot that I took this photo was within OpenStreetMap’s Mendenhall Glacier boundary, a sign of how fast the glacier was withdrawing.
Hill
Carved by glacier.

Mendenhall Ice Cave

Mendenhall Glacier
Right in front of me. This was a good spot to get on and off the glacier.
Mendenhall Glacier

I was slowly approaching Mendenhall Ice Cave, whose entrance was in the left of this photo, where the glacier met water.
Mendenhall Glacier
Entrance of Mendenhall Ice Cave in the center-left of this photo.
Entrance of Mendenhall Ice Cave

After I reached Mendenhall Glacier, its mesmerizing ice cave was all that’s on my mind, that I headed straight for it. Its entrance was a bit hard to spot from far away. Instead of turning right onto the glacier, one was supposed to continue heading north until the terrain started to rise in elevation. The ice cave was right at the boundary where the glacier met the northern-most pond of water.

Ice Cave Entrance
Mendenhall Ice Cave
Mendenhall Ice Cave
Mendenhall Ice Cave
End of Ice Cave
End of Ice Cave

It’s a magical experience setting foot inside the ice cave, watching how light bounced between different facets of the ice into a mesmerizing spell of blue that’s from out of this world. I was so used to ice being smooth, so the ice’s curvy surface as carved by the rocks was such an enchanting sight.

On the downside, the ice cave turned out to be only about 10 meters deep, which was a bit disappointing as I anticipated something larger to fit the name of “cave”. This felt more like an “alcove” to me.
Later, the local lady from Juneau caught up with me. She said the ice cave was created as a result of interaction between glacier and rock. The glacier was drifting down so the shape and size of the cave was constantly changing. Usually, the cave was larger in winter. In some summers there may not be an ice cave at all. Which was rather reassuring as I considered myself lucky to find an ice cave in the first place.

Mendenhall Ice Cave
Mendenhall Ice Cave
Mendenhall Ice Cave
Mendenhall Ice Cave
Dripping Water
The side of the ice cave away from the rocks was very low and close to water.

Walls of Mendenhall Ice Cave
There were some fine structures inside the ice.
Walls of Mendenhall Ice Cave
Walls of Mendenhall Ice Cave
Ceiling of Mendenhall Ice Cave

A closer look at the walls of Mendenhall Glacier revealed finer structures, possibly air bubbles, beneath their icy surface. To me they looked like crystals that afforded boundless imaginations.

Crystals in Glacier
Crystals in Glacier
Crystals in Glacier
Crystals in Glacier

The ice cave was constantly dripping water as the ice melted, despite my waterproof coat I still had to pay extra attention to my camera lens. Also, it’s pretty cold inside the cave surrounded by ice. As a result, after spending about 20 minutes around the cave, I retreated out of the cave and had my lunch, with the massive glacier in sight.

Mendenhall Glacier

After lunch, I had my sight on the actual Mendenhall Glacier itself. During my visit to Alaska last year I went on Harding Ice Field Trail and set foot on the massive ice field. Unfortunately last year weather and visibility weren’t good, I didn’t have microspikes thus mobility on ice was limited, and my drone’s grounded in that National Park territory. This time, weather was great and I came prepared, and after following the trail back for about 100m, I found a place that I could get onto the glacier from solid land. I was so excited as this was my first proper glacier expedition.

Boundary of Glacier and Land

The interaction between glacier and rocks gave rise to the shape of the ice cave that I visited earlier.
Boundary of Glacier and Land

A glacier would grind rocks from nearby mountains and carry them downwards. On the edge of the glacier the many small rocks gave its ice surface a black cover.
Boundary of Glacier and Land

A glacier would grind rocks from nearby mountains and carry them downwards. On the edge of the glacier the many small rocks gave its ice surface a black cover.
Mendenhall Glacier before Bullard Mountain
Mendenhall Lake from Mendenhall Glacier

Up close, the glacier felt very different from looking at a distance, the texture of surface ice was tangible, the blue colors were vivid, and the crevasses felt imposing.
As a result of the glacier’s interaction with nearby mountains, the glacier would carry very small rocks as it drifted downstream, so its surface also felt dirtier. But otherwise, the white color that’s too pure could be blinding.

Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Creek
The creek painted its passage into a beautiful blue color.
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier

Then there were the many crevasses on the glacier. Unlike mountains whose surface was mostly smooth from a distance, deep crevasses were omnipresent on a glacier, which could pose challenges to long distance traversing. Here in the lower part of Mendenhall Glacier it’s easy to navigate around crevasses, I even had the mood to pass by a few of them to appreciate the beauty of their colors. But at the end of the day, they were to be treated with caution.

Crevasses
Crevasses
Crevasses
Crevasses
Crevasses
Crevasses
Crevasses

Finally, in line with my tradition, I unleashed my drone and recorded this moment on ice.

26 seconds, 2160p60fps, 2x playback speed, 15Mbps/47MB for H265, 16.6Mbps/56MB for H264.

20 seconds, 2160p60fps, 2x playback speed, 15Mbps/36MB for H265, 16.6Mbps/42MB for H264.

In addition to this, I also used my drone to fly farther up the glacier for a few photos.

Overlooking Mendenhall Glacier
Overlooking Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Mendenhall Glacier
Me Standing on Mendenhall Glacier

Overlooking Mendenhall Glacier

And finally here’s a video:

After that, I got off the glacier and followed the trail back to the trailhead. There were various markers along the trail marking the outer edge of the glacier in various years, a sign of how the glacier had been receding over time.

Ice Limit Marker 1985
Just over the most technical scramble.
Ice Limit Marker 1984
Just before the most technical scramble.
Ice Limit Marker 1980
After the trail had started scaling the small hill by Mendenhall Lake
Ice Limit Marker 1976
After the trail had started scaling the small hill by Mendenhall Lake.
Ice Limit Marker 1942
At the fork of Glacier Overlook Trail and spur trail.

Finally, I got back to the trailhead parking lot at just past 4pm. Including all rests, this hike to Mendenhall Ice Cave and Glacier took me just over 5 hours.

It’s still early in the day, and weather forecast indicated a rainy day tomorrow so I’d like to explore more today. As a result, I headed towards the eastern shore of Mendenhall Lake where most visitors would go.

Eastern Shore of Mendenhall Lake

The best view of Mendenhall Glacier at a distance was from the eastern shore of Mendenhall Lake, where the US forest service built a visitor center. Parking was plenty and free near the visitor center, which I paid a brief visit.

Flowers
Along the path to visitor center and blooming beautifully.

The visitor center ended up being like a small museum about Mendenhall Glacier’s formation together with the eco-system nearby. I appreciated that it had huge floor-to-ceiling windows towards the glacier, so that visitors could enjoy sights of the glacier from indoors during the cold winter months.

Nugget Falls

Still early in the day by Alaskan standards, I decided to check out Nugget Falls Trail, which led from the visitor center to a giant waterfall that I’d watched many times from across the lake earlier today. The trail was 3.2km out-and-back with no elevation change, that I was still in shape for.
While Tongass National Forest accessed fees to some nearby trails, Nugget Falls was not one of those.

Trail to Nugget Falls
Unpaved but wide and well-maintained, it’s almost to the degree of wheelchair accessible.

Along the way, there were sights of many majestic mountains, both near and far.

Mendenhall Glacier
Stroller White Mountain above Mendenhall Glacier
Stroller White Mountain
McGinnis Mountain
Bullard Mountain
Distant Mt Robert Barron
On Mansfield Peninsula, 17.6 miles away.

In about 15 minutes I reached Nugget Falls. I found a spot to sit next to its pebble beach, and spent a few moments listening to its boisterous roar. The sound of such a mighty waterfall was actually a rather soothing presence that fitted well into this scenic background.

Nugget Falls

Nugget Falls
Nugget Falls
Nugget Falls
Nugget Falls
Nugget Falls
Nugget Falls

Expectedly, I launched my drone and recorded my presence next to this mighty body of water.

16 seconds, 2160p60fps, at least 2x playback speed, 16Mbps/31MB for H265, 17.8Mbps/35MB for H264.

And here’s a video of my drone trying to follow Nugget Falls upstream. Just that the drone’s low on battery so I couldn’t fly very far away.

Rest of Day

It’s past 6pm by the time I left the Mendenhall area. There was still some daylight left, so I made a few stops along my way back.

Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge

I drove past this small parking lot the previous day from the airport, and it seemed like a great place to view the surrounding snow-capped mountains from the valley, with various plants making a rather pleasant foreground.