Blue Sky, Glacier Caves, and Ice Crystals

Sunday, I spent the day with friends snowshoeing and skiing up Miller Creek to the terminus of the Canwell Glacier in the Eastern Alaska Range. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for the Delta Mountains at the beginning of February. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky; temperatures stayed within about 10° of 0°F all day, and there was barely any wind, except for a very slight katabatic breeze near the outwash plain and lower moraine.

There were some snowshoe tracks heading up the creek from the parking lot, but they ended after about 300 yards. Starting around a mile in, we hit several long stretches of deep snow and postholing.

Two people travel across a wide, snow-covered creek valley on skis, following a narrow, packed track. Snowy spruce trees line the valley, and rugged, snow-covered mountains rise in the background under a clear blue sky. — *Working our way up Miller Creek*

Around mile two, we picked up some old tracks. The creek valley was windswept, and travel improved significantly, cutting our pace nearly in half.

The contrast between the blue sky and the snow was remarkable. While we had plenty of sunlight traveling up the creek, it was clear that the glacier farther up the valley wouldn’t get any.

A small opening of dark, flowing water is visible in a mostly frozen creek, surrounded by smooth, wind-sculpted snow. Snow-covered trees and a forested ridge stand beyond the creek beneath a bright blue sky. — *A bit of open water in the creek*

A group moves across a frozen creek, leaving a fresh trail of footprints and ski tracks in soft snow. The wide valley is framed by low shrubs and spruce trees, with tall, snow-covered mountains in the distance. — *Making tracks in the creek*

Sparse shrubs and small trees coated in frost stand in shallow snow, casting long shadows across the ground. Low winter sunlight filters through the vegetation, with snow-covered mountains faintly visible in the background. — *Low light through the sparse, frost-covered vegetation*

A broad view of the Canwell Glacier seen from a flat, snow-covered outwash plain. The glacier lies mostly in deep shadow beneath steep, snow-covered mountains. Institute Peak rises prominently on the right side of the frame under a clear blue sky. — *View of the very shady Canwell Glacier in the early afternoon from the outwash plain. Institute Peak is on the right.*

Once we hit the moraine, the snow conditions deteriorated again: firm on the windward sides of the slopes, deep and unconsolidated in the saddles, and on the leeward sides.

Rolling terrain in the glacier moraine is covered in uneven snowdrifts, with shallow rises and depressions stretching across the landscape. Snow-covered rocks and low ridges break through the surface, with mountains visible beyond. Two hikers work their way up a hill. — *Ups and downs in the moraine*

An elevated view looking down into a narrow, winding channel carved into the snow-covered moraine. Exposed ice and compacted snow mark the path of meltwater beneath the surface, with steep snow walls lining both sides. — *Overhead view of the channel where many of the caves form in this area of the moraine*

Three people travel beneath a large ice overhang formed at the edge of the glacier. Thick layers of blue ice curve outward above them, while compacted snow and ice cover the ground below. The surrounding moraine and distant mountains frame the scene. — *Passing by a large ice overhang along the way*

By the time we found and dropped into a cave, it was only about 45 minutes from sunset. It was one of the same caves CJ and I had visited back in early September (I still haven’t written about it, but I hope to post soon). I had expected it to collapse before the end of the melt season, but it hadn’t changed much. It’s a small cave, but within it lies a narrow secondary entrance where water flows heavily in summer. That passage was now frozen, and we could access it.

This narrow entrance opened into a vast room, filled with some of the most incredible ice crystals and ice spikes I have ever seen. The ice floor was incredibly slick, and it was noticeably warmer the further back we went. No flowing water, but there was some surface water on the ice, and the thick layers beneath us let out some big cracks a few times.

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A person climbs a steep, snow-covered slope above a glacier cave opening. The snow surface is smooth and wind-packed, with a dark opening in the ice visible below. The sky is clear and pale blue, and the scale of the slope emphasizes the height above the cave. — *Sam hiking back up above the cave*

A close-up view of small, sharp ice crystals growing downward from the underside of an ice ceiling near a cave entrance. The crystals are translucent and needle-like, with fine points extending into darker blue ice below. — *Smaller ice crystals near the entrance to the “side cave”*

Inside a glacier cave, several people sit and stand on a snow-covered floor beneath a broad, arched ceiling of layered blue ice. Packs and gear are spread on the ground. A small opening to a side chamber appears in the right corner, edged with white frost and ice buildup. — *The group heated up water for ramen, and I took more photos. The small entrance to the side room is in the right corner, with frost buildup at the entrance.*

A narrow ice passage inside the glacier cave with a low ceiling and uneven floor of ice and snow. The walls and ceiling show layered ice and frost, and the confined space suggests a tight crawl is required to pass through. — *A bit of a tight crawl to get back to the ice crystals*

A person kneels on the ice near the entrance of a glacier cave, holding a camera up toward the cave ceiling. Thick frost and layered ice hang overhead, while the ice floor beneath them appears smooth and partially translucent. — *Sam taking photos of the ice near the entrance*

Two people kneel on the ice inside a glacier cave, adjusting the jacket on a medium-sized dog. The dog wears a bright red coat and stands on the slick ice surface. Frost-covered ice lines the walls and ceiling around them. — *Elliott and Cassidy fixing Astra’s jacket*

Inside a glacier cave, two people kneel and crouch on a smooth ice floor while another person stands farther back, shining a headlamp into the darker part of the cave. A dog wearing a bright red jacket stands in the foreground. Thick, long ice crystals hang densely from the low ceiling above them, extending toward the group and emphasizing the scale of the cave. — *Looking deeper into the cave with some of the largest ice crystals*

A close-up view of dendritic ice spikes growing downward from the cave ceiling. The crystals are long, branching, and translucent, with sharp edges that catch the light against darker ice in the background. — *Dendritic ice spikes on the ceiling*

A person crouches at the entrance of a small side chamber within the glacier cave. Thick ice crystals surround the opening on all sides, hanging from the ceiling and walls, emphasizing their size relative to the person. — *Elliott found another small room. A bit of perspective on the size of the ice crystals*

A close-up view of long, dendritic ice crystals growing downward from the ceiling of a glacier cave. The crystals are translucent and rectangular in cross-section, extending roughly one foot in length, with darker ice visible deeper in the cave behind them. — *More dendritic ice spikes. These were about one foot in length.*

A person kneels in the snow inside a glacier cave, holding a metal cooking pot while a small backpacking stove burns nearby. Ice walls and folded layers of blue-gray glacier ice rise behind them, and cooking gear is spread on the snow-covered floor. — *Sam boiling water for Ramen*

A wide view from inside a glacier cave looking toward the entrance, where daylight illuminates a smooth snow slope outside. The cave ceiling arches overhead with rounded, textured ice, and the transition from dark interior to bright exterior is clearly visible. — *View of the cave entrance*

A person stands near the wide entrance of a glacier cave holding a leash attached to a dog wearing a bright red jacket. The dog sniffs the snow-covered ground while pale blue light from outside fills the arched opening behind them. — *Elliott with Astra in front of the larger entrance as we were packing up to leave*

The Sun set while we were in the cave, but we had the goal of getting off the moraine and to the creek before darkness set in. There were some gorgeous blue hour views up and down the valley. About a mile after hitting Miller Creek, the full moon rose over the mountains to the northeast. We had slowly watched the moonlight creep down the mountainsides to the south and west.

A wide view up the Canwell Glacier valley during blue hour. Snow-covered glacier ice and wind-sculpted snow fill the foreground, while steep, jagged mountains rise in the distance. The entire scene is cast in deep blue twilight, with no direct sunlight remaining on the peaks. — *Twilight taking over looking up the Canwell Glacier Valley at Institute Peak*

Several people travel across a snow-covered slope during blue hour, moving away from the glacier moraine toward the flatter outwash plain. One person kneels in the foreground near a narrow packed trail, while others stand farther ahead against a backdrop of rolling, snow-covered mountains. — *About to step off the moraine and onto the outwash plain*

A bright, nearly full moon rises just above a dark mountain ridge at night. In the foreground, several people walk across a snowy plain using headlamps, which cast small pools of light on the snow and illuminate a line of footprints leading toward the mountains. — *The moon rising over the mountains*

The trail had set pretty nicely since earlier in the day, so we had very little postholing on the way out, but I noticed my quads were starting to burn around the last mile, and I had to stop and rest a few times despite being on completely flat terrain. But, overall, the day was pretty close to perfect with perfect weather and not a cloud in the sky until the end. We’re already making plans for our next outing and to return to the caves when sunlight begins to return to the valley in a few weeks.

I already have quite a few photos up from the trip, but I will also be uploading a few more in the coming days and weeks in my photo galleries here.

Blue Sky, Glacier Caves, and Ice Crystals

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