Mendenhall Glacier

We took what we thought was going to be a day trip up to Juneau to take care of some business. As it turned out, we were caught in a nasty little storm, and had to stay overnight at the splendiferous Super 8 hotel near the airport. And when I write splendiferous, I really mean crappy.
Anywhoo, while waiting for our flight to be cancelled, we drove out to the Mendenhall Glacier a few miles from downtown Juneau and braved the elements to see the magnificent glacier. The sleet, rain, freezing rain, ice chunks, rising wind and the frozen, skating rink-like surface of the parking lot and stairs convinced us to take a look, then get the heck out of there. So we did. Spending time in the emergency room wasn't on our agenda.

The Mendenhall glacier is fed from the Juneau Icefield. The icefield is America's fifth largest, and blankets over 1,500 square miles of land, stretching nearly 85 miles north to south and 45 miles east to west. It feeds 38 large glaciers, including the Mendenhall.

View of the glacier from the observation area.

View from the lakeshore (as far as we dared venture).

Close up of the twisting ice sheet.

Peace