Private Trek On Mendenhall Glacier

Private Trek On Mendenhall Glacier Photo #1 of 2 Photo copyright ShoreTrips.com.

Overview

This exhilarating tour will leave you drained, but satisfied at the end of the day!

You'll see the beauty of the glacier up-close and personal.

Experience Mendenhall glacier with a guide just for your private group! This tour will be tailored to your group’s needs and goals, whether its extra time at a feature, a faster pace, focusing on photography, or anything else.

Hiking to the glacier begins with 4 miles through towering Sitka Spruce and Hemlock in the largest temperate rainforest in the world. The trail becomes less defined as you follow your guide through dense brush, beaver ponds, and up rock scrambles. The trail is strenuous with about 800 feet in vertical elevation gain, and requires you to be sure-footed while crossing slippery stones and rock screes. It is all worth it when you climb the final ridge, and the jagged face of the glacier bursts into view with its river of ice coursing behind it.

The glacier is in constant change and its features disappear and reappear over the course of the season. After strapping on your micro-spikes, your guide will take you on a tour of the glacier's accessible features which may include exploring the other-worldliness of an ice cave, descending into crevasses carved by melt water, or peering into the deep blue well of a moulin.

- This tour includes the use of mountaineering gear, backpack, rain jacket and pants, as well as a hearty snack and bottled water.
- Please bring/wear: sturdy hiking boots that provide good ankle support, hiking pants, warm hat, fleece gloves, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
- We do NOT provide you with boots. We do provide you with crampons.
- All clients will need to hike with a backpack weighing approximately 10lbs the entire way on this trip.

- This tour operates April 28th - September 30th, 2020.
- Please note: Due to diminishing daylight hours, only morning departures will be offered after August 15th.
- There is a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 12 required for this tour.
- Minimum age to participate is 8 years old. Children need to be in good enough physical condition to hike 8 miles round trip on their own.
- Tour is not suitable for pregnant persons.
- Our private glacier trips cater to all ages and abilities, however, clients must be in good enough shape to hike for up to 6-6.5 hours, covering about 9 miles round trip. The hike to the glacier is challenging, and clients need to be in very good physical condition. All clients will need to hike with a backpack for the entire tour. We provide the backpack and it weighs approximately 10-15 pounds and holds mountaineering gear, snacks/water, and any extra clothing that you bring.
- The first mile of the trail is well maintained and goes through forests with a few switchbacks. The remaining three miles of the trail are very off the beaten path and require hiking on bedrock with rock scrambling on steep sections. It's important to have sturdy hiking boots that provide good ankle support while hiking on the rocky terrain. For an average fit group, it takes about two hours to hike to the glacier.
- Visiting specific features such as ice caves, moulins, etc. cannot be guaranteed due to the constantly changing nature of the Mendenhall Glacier. Your guide will assess the hazards on the day of the trip to determine if a particular area is safe to trek upon or enter.
- Maximum shoe size we can accommodate for the crampons is size 14. Minimum is size 2.
- All participants must sign a waiver form at the start of the trip. Participants under the age of 18 will need a parent/guardian to sign for them. Alterations and/or deletions to the waiver are not permitted.

Days offered: 7 days a week

Departures:

• , duration: 9 hours Departure times are flexible. Call us to arrange a time prior to booking.