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canyonwalkerAlaska Travelog #19
Now getting dinner - Mon, 17 Jun 2024, 7pm
We reached our turnaround point on the trail to the Harding Ice Field just before 4pm. It's not that it was too late in the afternoon to continue; there'd still be more than 7 hours of daylight plus 2 hours of dusk. It's that to go further really would have benefited from snow/ice equipment and we were too exhausted to fake it. So we did the safe thing, the thing recommended by the ranger anyway, and turned back.
The way down on out-and-back trails can become a forgettable thing. You've already seen all the sights, now it's just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other 5,000 times. So it helps to remind oneself, In Beauty I Walk. And it helps when nature is stinkin' beautiful with constant panoramic views.
We do still have to walk those thousands of steps, though, so we can't stop constantly for pictures. Though it does serve a dual purpose of letting us rest our aching legs. 😅
Well, actually, our legs weren't aching while we were still up here. It was about halfway down the relentless descent that our knees and toes were crying out for mercy.
We made it back to our car at 5:45pm and then to town around 6:15. We went straight to dinner.
Now getting dinner - Mon, 17 Jun 2024, 7pm
We reached our turnaround point on the trail to the Harding Ice Field just before 4pm. It's not that it was too late in the afternoon to continue; there'd still be more than 7 hours of daylight plus 2 hours of dusk. It's that to go further really would have benefited from snow/ice equipment and we were too exhausted to fake it. So we did the safe thing, the thing recommended by the ranger anyway, and turned back.
The way down on out-and-back trails can become a forgettable thing. You've already seen all the sights, now it's just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other 5,000 times. So it helps to remind oneself, In Beauty I Walk. And it helps when nature is stinkin' beautiful with constant panoramic views.
We do still have to walk those thousands of steps, though, so we can't stop constantly for pictures. Though it does serve a dual purpose of letting us rest our aching legs. 😅
Well, actually, our legs weren't aching while we were still up here. It was about halfway down the relentless descent that our knees and toes were crying out for mercy.
We made it back to our car at 5:45pm and then to town around 6:15. We went straight to dinner.
