Simply the best!

It's not like they had not told us what to expect at the Visitors' Center with the hike to the Icefield: 4 miles one-way, elevation change of 4,000 feet (1300 meters), level of hike – difficult. The weather that day was not either expected to make things easier: 90% chance of rain, windy and about 40 degrees at the top. Well, that would not stop us as we were determined to see what exactly an Icefield looks like.

Always always up, with rain and cold

We were expected to hike for about 6 to 8 hours. To make sure we would not have surprise encounters, we put the bear bell around Isabelle's wrist and Chad was carrying the bear spay. All of us had of course multiple layers to ensure we were ready for changing weather conditions and elevation. As we started the hike, it looked like we were in Central America (except for the temperature): dense tropical forest, lots of flowers and berries and constant drizzle. Less than a mile later, the landscape was already changing drastically: we walked through the flat meadow, no more trees in sight but a beautiful view of the glacier. So far so good and time to enjoy our first snack.

Then the fun started as we climbed up the cliff: switchbacks, steep rocky terrain, big rocks to escalate and no more views to entertain us. Our heartbeat was racing faster and faster and our shoes felt like filled with led. We had a tough time making good progress, and not feel discouraged by the ever climbing trail. The air was also getting colder, the rain thicker and with us sweating through the effort, it was hard to know what to do with our layers: take them off or keep them on? It was a constant battle... As we were getting closer to the top, we jumped over numerous springs and saw a few mountain marmots. We knew that after 3.5 miles, we would reach the shelter which would be a good place to dry up and have lunch. But where was the shelter? It should have already been there, right? Suddenly, the fog came up and we could hardly see the trail. We thought about turning back for a minute but it lifted up.

There was not much talking in the group, only the sound of the bear bell as we were focused on putting one step after the other. And there it was, the shelter, where we finally sat down to eat our lunch. We were still not at the Icefield but were told it was only a ¼ mile away. We would try to see it after lunch, food came first. We finally hiked the end of the trail and there it was, the endless ice beneath us, the origin of more than 50 glaciers in the Kenai Fjords National Park.

We felt its breath hitting us, cold air with stronger winds and rain than earlier. Its power was fascinating: this ever moving beast, scared by crevasses and partly covered by the fog. We had a hard time taking our eyes away from it, partly surprised that we made it and were able to look at it, but captivated for sure.

We finally turned back and took the path down, all downhill this time. As we were descending the mountain, the temperature was getting warmer and the weather nicer. We were losing layer after layer and were going through the earlier landscapes and vegetation changed faster than on the way up. We finally reached our starting point 7 hours and 15 minutes after we left, including 1 hour lunch break. We were tired and wet but so happy we made it to the top, especially as a group. We gave each other high fives and felt proud of our achievement, despite feeling tired, wet and cold as our body was cooling down from the hike.

Fresh Silver salmon fillet, 3 ways

We had a treat waiting for us in Seward that we had kept for after the hike. The evening before, as we went to the harbor to observe fishermen bringing their catch of the day back, we stayed at the cleaning stations for a while and observed a lucky guy cleaning all the Silvers he caught that day. We were impressed by his technique and trying to learn from him, preparing ourselves for the day we would catch such beautiful fish. He asked us if we were staying in Seward and if we had cookware. After we replied yes, he offered us a whole fillet. Amazing, we could not believe his generosity!
After the hike, we cooked that fillet for dinner with asparagus and pasta. Given the size of the fillet, we decided to cut it and have it different styles, First with garlic and butter, then with a lemon pepper spice mix and finally, just salt and butter. We only had one stove to fix our dinner but Caroline did magic with the limited means we had. She fixed the best dinner ever, and while it is easy when you have such high quality fish as the main ingredient, we were all stunned by how delicious the whole meal was. The fillet was a bright vibrant red color, shining under the lights and as we tasted the meat, it was just melting in our mouth, with the delicate flesh pink meat sliding down our mouth. We cooked the pieces from medium rare to medium and all were equally exceptional, probably the freshest and best salmon we all ever had. Again, only in Alaska could you have such a treat that a stranger would give you.

As we walked to our tent, ready for the night, our feet and legs tired and our belly full of delicious salmon, we thought how great a day this was. Simply the best we could have hoped for, even if the weather was pretty bad. We had conquered the Icefield and eaten as a reward one of the best delicacy the stated has to offer.