[Kenai Fjords National Park, Jul 28, 2025]
The Harding Ice Field covers over 700 square miles in the Kenai mountains on the Kenai peninsula. It spawns 40 glaciers, the most accessible of which is the Exit glacier. Harding is one of only 4 remaining ice fields in the United States and is the only one contained entirely within the US. An 8.6-mile trail provides access to the ice field as it climbs 3,000 ft along the Exit glacier. It is one of the best national park hikes and our first chance on this trip to get close to a glacier on foot!
The drive to the Exit glacier area was less than 30 minutes from Seward. We got our first views from the glacier from the road.
The trail starts out flat and paved. Signs along the way mark the terminus of the glacier over the years, which has been retreating. The glacier has retreated a total of 1.25 miles since reaching its maximum in 1815.
Soon, we entered the forest and started climbing. It was buggy and hot, but the views distracted us from all that.
After about an hour or so, we reached Marmot Meadow and got our first views of the glacier. The katabatic winds coming off the glacier provided much needed relief from the heat and bugs. The winds are the result of the cooler air above the glacier, which is heavier and flows downhill from the glacier.
The views got better as better as we continued climbing. We could not stop taking photos!
We finally reached an area called Top of the Cliffs. We had just climbed the steepest section of the trail with many switchbacks, and we were definitely getting tired. We stopped here to snack and take in the fabulous views of the glacier.
We still had another 1.5 miles or so to the end of the trail. To make things even harder, there were some large snowfields still lingering on the trail.
Olivia decided to turn around after the first snow field. I continued on for another 15 minutes or so because I wanted to get some better views of the ice field. I spoke to some people coming down, and most of the had not made it to the end, either. I was tempted to go to the end but I was tired and I didn’t want to have Olivia wait for me for that long.
We stopped by the nature center at the trailhead, which was now open. An exhibit showing the retreat of the Exit glacier over time was quite impactful. The glacier loses more and more of its mass every year. Since 2006, the glacier has been retreating even in winter.
After a quick shower and change at our B&B, we headed out to dinner. We were starving! Ray’s Bar & Grill fit the bill – it had great views and delicious crab legs!
We ended our day in downtown Seward. First, we grabbed some drinks Seward Brewing Company. Olivia had a beer and I had their delicious blueberry hard seltzer. We also walked up and down the main street marveling at the historic buildings. We really enjoyed all the amenities Seward had to offer, especially since we were about to go into a much more remote and rugged part of Alaska.
