Ice Caves Under Mendenhall Glacier
The formations of ice under the glacier are out of this world
View from deep in the cave
A river runs through it
Glacier Hikers on top of the Ice Cave
If you want the ultimate mind-blowing experience in Juneau and you are a bit adventurous then the ice cave hike is the answer. These caves are slowly changing all the time so my suggestion is to go see them while they last. In just a year's time Mendenhall Glacier has receeded quite a bit, and even though the caves are different than last year they are every bit as beautiful. Imagine the bluest ice forming a dome over you with a river running through it, all underneath a glacier. I can't help but feel like I have been transported to another world, or superman's ice fortress while surrounded by the ice caves. And the beauty of this being in wild Alaska is that you don't have to pay anything to get here. There are some organized tours that kayak or canoe across the lake from the visitors center, but if you make it to the west glacier trailhead a 2.5hr hike across changing terrain will lead you right to the caves and the glacier itself.
First View from the Cave
The caves may be beautiful, but it is a dangerous beauty. While I was there several rocks fell down from ontop of the glacier. Inside the caves melt water is dripping down, and in some places pouring off. There are constant reminders that the glacier is constantly moving and shifting like a giant river of ice. I fear after another year or two the glacier will recede far enough back where the caves will no longer form.
I hiked with a tripod so I could take some selfies inside the ice cave
That is why this time I wanted to be ready to photograph and capture this subglacier world. I took a tripod, my canon 5d mark ii with a 17-40mm L series lens to capture the moment. The tripod was necessary as there wasn't a lot of light inside the caves so I needed some pretty long exposure times. Also balancing the light of some of the ice with the black rocks below was difficult. The canon 5d does a wonderful job in these situations. I was pretty pleased with the results.
Entering the Ice Cave from the back
Here is one of the tour groups that led their people up onto the glacier before going through the ice cave. Notice they all had hard hats to ward off the smaller falling rocks near the entrance and exit. It had changed a lot since I was here a few years ago.
Check it out on pinmapple here:
-Dai Mar