ICE-YLAND (Kennecott, Day 11)

Root Glacier

Yay! Today we’re going to hike Root Glacier!  A glacier is a large body of ice. A guy from Wild Alpine Tour came to pick us from the metal bridge between McCarthy and Kennecott. It was drizzling. BAD day to hike outdoors. Cold!!! L

Anyways, we stopped at Kennecott, a small but interesting town to start our hike. We hiked a mile and a half or so to the edge of the icy Root Glacier in a muddy trail. Man, it was tough! Plus it’s raining! Phew….

Cramp-ons

Upon reaching, the guide gave each of us a pair of crampons, a metal thing with straps and sharp spikes that attach to your shoes to help walking on and prevent slipping on ice. J

With the crampons, we hike up at down through the glaciers. It’s SO bumpy that I kept twisting my ankle, even with the crampons on. L The ice are white, light blue, and brown with tiny streams flowing down. SO cold!!!

The cave

Finally, after hiking an hour and a half, arrived at THE CAVE, the place Shu Ying and I were waiting for…. The cave was HUGE and magnificent. It has high arcs, and fresh water dripping frequently. I got free fresh water by licking the clean ice walls. Mmm….. We ate a simple lunch there. J

We left the cave and hike much more. The guide showed us a deep, DEEP hole, like a mini waterfall. It’s very dangerous to go near it!!! CREEPY!!!

At 4:00 pm, we took a different route back to Kennecott(still a mile and a half). My feet!!!! OW!!! L