The drive home from Valdez was made longer when we took a side trip to Matanuska Glacier
This was an official guided tour thus we were required to have on helmets as we hiked.
The outskirts of the glacier in the summer are wet and muddy
Charlotte was great to hold on to Camille when she wanted to get closer to cracks to see the rushing water as it ran freely down into dark caverns.
We were given ice cleats to strap on our shoes which were helpful. Even more helpful was the fact that we had just watched Sing 2 in the trailer the night before because we could all sing to Camille "Tippy toes, tippy toes, I don't see your tippy toes!" The timing was perfect as she giggled and used the ice cleat under her toes to get to the top of the small ice hills.
Charlotte gained some skills on how to distribute her weight on the cleats.
One of the highlights of the tour was the chance to drink fresh cold ice melt. It brought a new definition to "ice cold" - it nearly gave us a brain freeze or as Camille likes to say, a 'freeze brain'
I wonder how many more years this glacier will be there. I'm sure it will be there another 10-20 years but it seems to be melting and shrinking at a fantastic rate.
The view from the center of the glacier was phenomenal
The tour guide let hazel use her climbing pick to break apart the glacier
Glaciers often conjure up images of ice but they also have a lot of rocks and dirt mixed in. Also sections of the same glacier may have a different composition depending on when it formed.
A view of the glacier from a distance
Later that night we took Necia and Paxton to the airport. It was so fun to see family and spend time with them and so sad to say goodbye.
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