Dynatrekkin'

Come along with us!

September 19, 2024

Day 193 / July 2, 2024

Posted by

Ember Hutton

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How can taking two extra kids on an epic hike in Kenai Fjords National Park possibly be easier than bringing just our own kids? It’s simple mom math. 🧮

Meet Cooper and Kennedy – the newest additions to the Hutton family for the day. 🤗

When we decided that today was the day to tackle the Harding Icefield Trail we offered to bring some of the Clemons kids along.

The kids have a blast together so I hoped that it would help pass the miles and take their minds off the 3,000+ foot elevation climb.

The trail started on the valley floor, wound through cottonwood and alder forests, and then quickly started climbing in elevation.

We gained about 1,000 feet of elevation with every mile.

I spy a glacier in the distance so we must be getting closer! We took a snack break at Marmot Meadows before continuing on.

Pretty soon we saw a ranger who told us to be careful because she had just seen a black bear with cubs in the area. I asked, “How long ago was that?” To which she casually replied, “Oh they were standing right where we are now about five minutes ago. Do you want to see the picture?” WHAT. 😱

After chatting for a few more minutes we said goodbye and continued on. Soon we heard the ranger calling and telling us to come back down to where she was standing. She was super calm but did say, “Go ahead and cut the trail so you can get back here quickly!” She had spotted the bears again right where we were headed so I’m glad she alerted us. Apparently it is more common to NOT SEE a bear along this particular trail than TO SEE one. More of this: 😱

After we left the meadows and continued our climb the views were getting better and better.

The weather was also getting hotter and hotter. The kids enjoyed dipping their heads in the ice cold glacier water that was flowing down the side of the mountain.

Definitely above the tree line now and still more climbing!

We made it to Top of the Cliffs! We decided to stop here as the rest of the trail was an active avalanche zone and 2/5 of these kids aren’t even mine. 😅

The promise of cookies (Susie’s Sweets delivered from home no less) kept us all motivated to get to the top.

After some sugar it was time for a snowball fight in July! ❄️

We were seriously proud of Kennedy who stepped out of her comfort zone to join us on this hike. She did amazing!

Family selfie on the Harding Icefield or it didn’t happen! 🤳🏻

Soon it was time to head back down.

Views for miles

The vegetation along the trail is dense and passes through thickets of salmonberries, which is a favorite food of black bears. Luckily we didn’t bump into any bears on the way back through the area where they were hanging out a few hours earlier.

9 miles total – so dang proud of these kids! 🥾

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About the author

Hi! I'm Ember and I love traveling and photography but not so much organizing said adventures and pictures. Chronically blogging in past tense. :)