Mendenhall Glacier West Hike - Ice Caves

Mendenhall Glacier West Hike - Ice Caves
Juneau, Alaska
We were in Alaska on a cruise and we decided to do our own shore excursion. I had the maps and wanted an adventure that most of the tours wouldn't give you. We rented a car at the port and drove to the park, parked out Skaters Cabin Road and hiked the West Trail. When the trail splits, we went right and out over the open rock of the peninsula. This opened up into great views of the lake, Nugget Falls, and the glacier. The glacier is constantly changing, caves that were there last week, are not there now. We spoke with a local who was out there a week prior and had found 3 nice caves, but on this day those were caved in. We were able to find two caves, one was much nicer than the other, but took a little climbing and scrambling to get to. Enjoy!
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Video and Audio Equipment:
Main Camera - Sony a5100 w. kit 16-50mm lens
Other Camera - GoPro Hero 5 Black
Third Camera - GoPro Hero 3+ Silver
Audio - H1 Zoom
Lapel Mic - Sony
Edited using iMovie

[@k.whiking4372]

Spectacular. Thank you for sharing.

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Thanks for watching!

[@garygomer7940]

My wife and I just got back from a cruise to Alaska, went to the same glacier...just beautiful!!!

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Yes it is!

[@jeffmyers7062]

Awesome visuals with the glacier!

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Thank you, the glaciers were awesome!

[@PhilMRivers]

Beautiful I got to get back there

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

It was pretty amazing! Thanks!

[@uptrail7169]

The glacier is beautiful! Great Video👍

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Thank you! It was a great trip!

[@pureblood2020]

Mark, That is awesome!...I don't get jealous often...but, that is Bad A**!

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Haha, happy I was able to make you jealous, and you're right, it was BA! Thanks!

[@davinjacobs]

We literally had some of the same shots! Awesome

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Such an amazing area! Thanks!

[@dannon2010]

Nice. The ground rock in the water makes it a identifiable color.

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

It's so cool!

[@gregwicks51]

Very cool

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Yes it was! Thanks!

[@texashikeaholicsadventures5651]

Very very nice!! We are hoping to plan an Alaskan cruise for next year if the schedule allows!! So jealous of you right now!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

It was amazing, you'll love it! We decided to do our own excursions rather than the ones done through the ship or a third-party, and I'm so glad we did it that way. It's easy and way cheaper! Plus you don't have to go at the pace of the slowest in your group!

[@CC-CODER]

Hey, my wife and I did a similar excursion in 2014. We did the shorter hike over to Nugget Falls. Also rented a car with only 140K miles on it. Guess the cruise lines control the ports and would rather passengers spend money on the ships excursions. We drove the entire 50 miles north on the End Of The Road..road? Think that was the name of it. Got to see a lot more than the average tourist. Funny how the Glaciers seem to take all the light and make pictures and video less colorful. Great tour Mark, brings back some nice memories.

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Our car was actually pretty new, which I guess is a rarity in Juneau. The colors in the glacier were incredible!

[@JeremiahStringer]

What an amazing excursion! Gotta get my wife in on one of these. Great stuff man!

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Thanks, it was great, and it was special to have my wife with me.

[@smkwhatsnext3411]

Cool trip, the whole thing. ..lol. .

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

There will be more! Thanks!

[@solankypaul5008]

4years ago We had the exact same experience to d exact same place with a guide of course n we did glacier hiking to but d ice cave got destroyed by that time. It’s completely melted away... but we saw an ice cave in Byron glacier n we explored it.

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Sweet, glad you were able to find an intact ice cave and get some exploration done! Such an amazing experience!

[@lilricky2515]

Very jealous, great video! Although Al Gore says that the glaciers melted back in 2010 ;)

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Thanks! The glaciers are getting smaller for sure, I show it pretty dramatically in the video that will come out next Tuesday!

[@dariomaricic2031]

Is that I want to see the ice caves like you did, I need to go down on the trail at some intersection instead of keep going up?

[@beamer6136]

Whats sad, they used to be much larger

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Watch the video next week, it shows a pretty significant visual of just that. This one had signs all along the trail of where the glacier was in specific years. It has receded miles over the last half century.

[@MagisterCobb]

My family just got back from a cruise to Alaska, the pictures don’t do it it justice do they?

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

No, they really don't! It was amazing!

[@oscarafre1764]

Nice! I see you went in July. I was thinking of doing it in the winter. What are your thoughts?

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

I have never been in that area in winter, I would imagine it would make the trip much more difficult, but I can't say. I'd do some searches, maybe seek out some locals or local outfitters and see what they say about it. Thanks!

[@selbournegongwani4784]

Did you need or recommend a guided tour or is it doable by oneself?

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

I just did a little research and did it ourselves. We rented a car and walked to pick up the car, then drove out and did the hike! Was better than any of the excursions offered on the cruise!

[@tyler1783]

How long did it roughly take you to complete this hike? I see lots of people saying 5 hours, is that about right? thank you!

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Tyler I would say about 5 hours from leaving the ship until we were back on the ship. We rented a car so we had to walk to the rental location, then we drove out there.

[@kristenmashburn1946]

We will be going in September of 2020. I’m planning ahead. How long would you say this day/hike took you? We arrive Into port at 2:30pm. I wanted to hike to the Mendenhall Glacier but I am worried about time. We leave Juneau at 11:00 pm. Im not one for tour groups as they take up a lot of time so hiking on our own was my plan. I read the trail was marked with ribbons? Any advice would be awesome!

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

We got in at noon and left Juneau at 9. We rented a car and walked the mile or so to the rental lot, then drove to the supermarket and got lunch stuff. Drove to the West Glacier Trailhead and followed the flagged trail. I believe we spent about 1.5 hours hiking each way, then about an hour or so exploring on the glacier.

[@vickiezhengli9056]

how long was the hike?

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

I believe it was 2.9 miles each way.

[@Avi_K_dog]

First 🍀

[@SpiguyverBackpacking1]

Thanks!