Ice Cave Expedition, Picture Heavy

akviper

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Valdez, Alaska, USA
Saturday was a beautiful day. We snowshoed to the ice fall of the Valdez Glacier and checked out this year's ice caves. The summer melt water forms tubes deep in the ice and when they break up at the edge of the glacier the result is incredible. Enjoy my meager attempts to capture nature's wonder.

Approaching the ice fall.

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The edge of the ice fall.

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Inside the first cave.

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Millennium old ice? Note the ice layers.

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Ice cave interior.

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Ice tube entrance.

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Ice tube walls.

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Heading home at sunset.

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The trailhead for the glacier trip is about a ten minute drive from our home. We view a bunch of glaciers from the house. I'm retired and we often contemplate moving some where a little warmer but the natural beauty around here is impossible to beat. Spectacular views are everywhere and you can find solitude and true wilderness only thirty minutes away or closer.
 
akviper...When I look at these pictures, it makes me regret having never visited Alaska as a civilian. I was in the Infantry at Ft. Wainwright from Nov. '71 to June '73. I've been from Anchorage and Kodiak Island up to Prudhoe Bay at the oil fields, before they built the pipeline, out to Nome and all over the interior of the state on field exercises. If someone's never been there, they could never really grasp what it's like from pictures or a written description. You are truly blessed to live there. Thanks for the photos. broggie
 
akviper;
Those are beautiful pictures of nature's diversity. Thank you for
sharing. It almost makes me want to see it first-hand. However,
having just fallen due to some hardened "global warming", I think
I'll pass until the bruises clear up. Second time this year, made me wonder if it was worth getting back up.
TACC1
 
It must be captivating to be inside one of those blue wonders! Rapture of the Deep Freeze.
 
Extremely Cool! Thanks

What he said. I wouldn't mind doing that someday, but the glaciers here in Missouri disappeared a while ago. (If there were any, heck I don't know).

Thanks for posting!
 
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