Did You Know...
The Mendenhall Glacier slowly flows down from the Juneau Icefield and melts into Mendenhall Lake. Snowfall at the Icefield creates new ice for the glacier, and this ice takes some 200 - 250 years to travel down the glacier to reach the lake.
Source: US Forest Service
The Mendenhall glacier's terminal moraine, the point where it advanced the furthest, is located about 2.5 miles down from where the foot of the glacier is today. When the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center was built in 1962, the glacier was just about a "stone throw" away from it; now the glacier lies over a mile away.
Source: US Forest Service.
Among the abundance of wildlife observed around the Mendenhall there is a sleek black wolf known locally by the name Romeo. When we first started out on our hike to the glacier we got a glimpse of him, partly hidden amidst the trees. We spoke with a man then passing by with his dog, he told us Romeo had been stalking them during their walk, but we never saw him again on our journey. Here are a few stories of Romeo that have popped up in our local newspaper:
Juneau's Lone Wolf
Juneau Predator 
Like Romeo and the residents of Juneau, you too can befriend your very own howling wolf!
Interested in having a print of one of Mihael Blikshteyn's photos? Contact Mihael through his website here.
Date 2/6/09
Anchorage Temperature
Low -5F High 25F
Daylight 8 hrs 17 mins
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Life in Alaska
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Sheets of ancient ice gliding over the rock, calmly moving and melding their way around the land, carving the mountains, digging the valleys, their slow, unobtrusive destruction shaping the Earth. Such a performance is taking place just thirteen miles from downtown Juneau, where lies the beautiful Mendenhall Glacier. This past November, four of us headed out with water-bottles and hiking boots to get up and cozy with the Mendenhall. About 3.5 miles later, the glacier lay out right before us, monstrous and breathtaking. Exploring the ice caves was a cool experience, entombed in brilliant blue, enclosed in dripping, lustrous walls of ice. |
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| The Mendenhall is part of the Juneau Icefield which encompasses some 1500 square miles. The glacier stretches down 13 miles from the icefield to the Mendenhall Lake at its base. Around the glacier you'll find a plethora of walking and hiking trails in summer as well as water activities, like kayaking, in the lake (Though it may be a bit too nippy for swimming!) In winter you can walk, ice-skate or ski on the lake's frozen face, close to the walls where ice meets water. At the lake's south edge you'll find the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center where you can magnify the glacier through telescopes, view exhibits, and warm up! The Mendenhall is a retreating glacier. On our hike my friend pointed out how far down the ice had lain not so many years before, and he was surprised how much the ice had receded, even since earlier in the year. At its current rate of melt it would still be awhile before the thirteen miles of ice could only be observed in pictures, but I am hoping that it will remain, as it is, for those to come, for those to view in awe, for those to explore. |
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According to the US Forest Service, "Glacial ice appears blue because it absorbs all colors of the visible light spectrum except blue, which it transmits. The transmission of this blue wavelength gives glacial ice its blue appearance. Glacier ice may also appear white because some ice is highly fractured with air pockets and indiscriminately scatters the visible light spectrum." |
Glacier ice through winter and summer, you too can adorn yourself year round with our gorgeous line of Glacierite topaz jewelry, reminiscent of Alaska's bountiful ice, like the Mendenhall. Note: We can do Valentine's Day shipping if ordered soon. |
