A few miles before you reach Seward (which is apparently a fisherman’s paradise in the summer, because I think we saw half a million tourists there) is Exit Glacier.

Exit Glacier is part of the Kenai Fjords, and was so named because it was where explorers would exit the Harding Ice Fields. I have to admit that although I think Denali is preferable to Mt. McKinley, I really like the names Turnagain Arm and Exit Glacier.

Because of the way the glacier has retreated, we were not allowed to walk up to and touch the glacier–there was simply no path to do so. But we got very close–close enough to be extremely impressed.

One of the things I liked about the hike to the glacier was that they marked where glacier had been and at what year. It was amazing to stand in what was pretty much a forest, and realized the glacier had been there not fifty years earlier.

As you can see, we had an absolutely gorgeous day.

This was our first clear view of the glacier.The glacier had been where I was standing in 1926.

Once again I was amazed by the landscape and not just what nature had done (in breaking bits of mountain into small rock) but also how quickly the plants and trees had taken over where not long before a glacier had stood.

And now we’re closer, but you can still see we’re relatively far away, as the people standing by the glacier still look quite tiny.

There were lots of waterfalls within the glacier, where the melt ran down eventually to ground.

You can see here how quickly plants take over once the glacier has receded.

Outside of the park, the river formed by the melt.

And then the town of Seward. I was fascinated by the piece of dock that had survived the Good Friday Earthquake and Tsunami.