Viewing some glaciers is no doubt on any Alaska trip checklist. Even if you aren’t an over-achiever, seeing all 5 types of glaciers will, at some point, become a goal of your RV tour or road trip to Alaska.
After some wonderful adventures in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (post here), we had to make the slow drive back along McCarthy Road (more info here) before getting back on Richardson’s Highway (which runs from Valdez to Fairbanks so we’ve seen a lot of this road at different stages in the trip). This time we’re moving from the Wrangell-St. Elias area south towards Valdez.
We stopped at historic roadside cabin and a view of Mount Billy Mitchell (an army project manager for the trans-Atlantic telegraph and later a pilot who pushed for the air force as separate military branch) to sleep for the night. We probably should have gone a little further to boondock as there were plenty of beautiful spots along this southbound Richardson’s Highway to do so.
Moose video
The next morning we made our way over Thompson Pass (credited with snowfall extremes in Alaska, holding several records, including 974.5 inches during the 1952-32 season) to Blueberry Lake Campground, but before going over the pass, we stopped at Worthington Glacier, a glacier easily accessed from the road.
Alaskan mountain glaciers are defined by the landscape their terminus occupies:
- A valley glacier starts from snow collected in a high basin or icefield which flows down a mountain valley
- A hanging glacier sits in the mountain valley but above the valley floor
- A cirque glacier forms inside a semi-circular cut-out in the mountain
- A piedmont glacier begins as a valley glacier but fans out into a basin where there are no valley walls to contain it
- A tidewater glacier flows into the sea and may exhibit dramatic calves.
Glaciers move by either creeping, like very slow molten lava, or sliding when a slippery layer of meltwater forms between the ice crystals and the bedrock.
Worthington Glacier is a valley glacier that is both creeping and sliding. It can be seen from the parking lot and nearer from a very short, paved path that leads to an overlook. If you’re willing to ignore the risks of posted signs, you can get up close and onto this glacier.
The Blueberry Lake campground has been noted in several guides as “one of Alaska’s most beautifully situated campgrounds” as it’s tucked into an alpine setting between tall mountain peaks. After the muddy glacier hike with Bailey, showers and haircuts for all 3 of us were in order.
Later, Doug cycled over the top of Thompson Pass.
We likely saw every type of glacier from the flight tour we took in Wrangell-St. Elias, but there’s something magical and also disheartening about seeing these receding beauties, like Worthington Glacier, up close. Who knows how long they’ll remain if we don’t act aggressively against climate change and soon.
