Nadahini Glacier

August 16 2008

Good morning Sunshine!
Sue Herbrick and I are camping with our teenagers at Dezadeash Lake Campground.
We all wake up early, have a 'cold' breakfast, break up camp, and an hour later we are on the Haines Summit.
It's a beautiful morning,in the sun, with morning mist in the lower valleys and the mountains peeking out.
It is an ever changing beautiful sight to watch those clouds. I wonder how to call them here in the mountains.
Where I grew up; it was mist(fog) when you were in it, and clouds, when it was above you.

9.30 am. We turn off the highway by Chuck Creek. Since a few years there is a turn off and a parking lot with government outhouses. This is a favorite hiking area.

Here in the Yukon I feel very fortunate, to have so much wilderness surrounding me, only to be shared by a handful of people.
I have lived in the Yukon for 18 years and am not very social as in interacting with people. But when I do meet people in
our gorgeous mountains and valleys, I often do know them. As soon as we get out of the car there is (another) Sue.
at least 3 of our party know her and I probably know 3 of her party (which I didn't meet). They are off back packing in the Mountains for a few days.

Sue wanted to show me all the flowers along this trail. And right as we start hiking they are amazing and very abundant.
The flowers big and showy, Like the River Beauty, which is a Fireweed, with less blossoms, but Bigger!
Tall Valerian and that parsley again and lots of blue flowers. We follow an old cat trail which goes towards Samual glacier.

What we didn't know is that, where we are heading is the Nadahini Glacier. Soon we leave the cat trail and walk on beautiful green meadows, with flowers. We go through a marshy area. It is all very beautiful and we are making many pictures. We climb up a very steep bank. Where I do feel that I am breaking too many flowers.

On top of the bank, we decide to split up. Jonathan and Alexander will go on and Sue and Kathy will go on only a little farther, in a slower pace. That leaves me to choose, with who to go. Of course, if you know me, I choose to go up. And run after
the boys, who are actually happy to have me.

We climb another bank full of flowers. And head up and toward Chuck Creek. Which is a beautiful gorge here, powerful water
rushing down in the bottom,and waterfalls. Higher up we see a snow bridge.
You know, it is really too much to describe it all, I'll take you there one day.

Soon we reach gravel benches, with dark mud creeks, Soft spots where you sink in the mud underneath the gravel,
I think we are still seeing flowers here. Later only dwarf willows, creeping on the ground. And the 'highest' flower we encounter
today is the Purple Mountain Saxifrage, which photo I posted as a header, to honor it's power to bloom in the wildest of wild.
We are now very close to the Glacier.
Where the Glacier has retreated it is flat gravel slope with an incline.
There is so much to marvel about; the polygon shapes in the snow, lined with red "water melon algae".

In just over 2 hours from the start, The boys are elated to reach the Glacier! And instantly climb on it.
I am lugging behind a little, which gives me the opportunity to make photos.
They drink its amazing water which flows over the blue ice.
I climb on too , the blue ice is too slippy for me , but I can walk a ways on paths of snow.
We have lunch here and a little lower the boys make some amazing rock art.

I could be here for hours, actually days( in this kind of weather) Loving it more then totally.