Sunset Glacier

I slept until 11:00 today! I had not slept this late for any reason in many years. Just moments after I opened my eyes, I popped out of my tent. My muscles were sore from the day before, but I was looking forward to hiking further up the valley to the Sunset Glacier, then back to camp and on up a nearby peak in hopes of getting another glimpse of Mt. McKinley.

I had time only to cook breakfast (brunch rather) before the clouds opened up and started dumping rain on me. I scurried back into my tent to decide what to do with myself. For the time being, a view of McKinley was out of the question. But for just such an occasion, I brought a Robert Crais / Elvis Cole PI novel with me. I delved into the story and ploughed through 275 pages as the rain continued. I didn't look up until it was 6:30 PM. By this point, I was feeling squirrelly. I had eaten a very late lunch in the tent and I needed to do something with those calories. The rain was still coming down, but I decided to hike anyway. As luck would have it, the rain stopped about a half-hour after I exited the tent.

I hiked a couple of miles further up the valley and peered around each rocky bend in anticipation of spotting what I expected to be an ice-blue crystal glacier. Not until I almost slipped on the ice did I realize that I was there. The glacier was black and covered in dark gravel and rocks. It wasn't what I expected, but beautiful nonetheless. There was water dripping from the crevasses and into the grey silty river. It would be (part of) the river-crossing problem I would experience the next day.

I took time for pictures. I didn't know whether it was safe to climb on the glacier, so I headed back to camp. I returned to my tent at 10:30 PM - in broad daylight - and settled in for the evening. Feeling optimistic, I left the rain fly off but had to scramble back out of the tent to reattach it 10 minutes later as the rain picked up.