10/28/2011 – No more than two hours after having landed in Alaska (back on October 3rd), I was out hiking around the Mendenhall Valley with a couple of my WEMT classmates.  The glacier was a powerful piece of geologic and climatological history that immediately instilled in me the belief that Alaska is something special and different. It was my first day in Alaska and I saw a black bear, the largest glacier I had ever seen, and my first icebergs.  Unfortunately I was camera-less on that gorgeous Alaskan fall day, but vowed that I would return to photograph the glacier again before I left Juneau.

Fast forward to the final week of our class.  After being indoors for over 48 hours eating, sleeping, and studying for the Alaskan EMT exam I had to get outside, so I went for a bike ride to the Mendenhall Glacier… in the rain. Although this second exploration of the Mendenhall Valley wasn’t in blue-sky conditions, the lower light allowed the vibrant blues of the glacial ice to come out and kept the crowds away, leaving me to have my own spiritual experience with the glacier. Here are the pictures. Enjoy.