Seward and Harding Icefield Trail

July 18, 2026
Seward and Harding Icefield Trail
Cassidy over the Harding Icefield

I’ve never hiked the Harding Icefield Trail in good weather. Neither Cassidy nor Elliott had hiked it at all. So when a window opened in the forecast, we left Homer for Seward.

Arriving in the late afternoon, we stopped at the Exit Glacier Campground to find a spot and set up our tents before heading back into town. We spent some time at the Alaska SeaLife Center, for me mostly an excuse to watch the seals and puffins.

Cassidy had more homework to work on, so Elliott and I went to the Seward Brewing Company for dinner. I’m not sure I’ve ever written about a dining experience, but this one warrants it. I visited the brewery last September with CJ when we hiked the Harding Icefield Trail, but we didn’t get food here. I remember seeing their pizzas coming out and kind of regretting not eating there.

We ordered their Tuscan Raider with pecorino crème fraîche, mozzarella, leek, tomatoes, rosemary, olive oil, and pistachio. I’ve eaten a lot of pizza in my life, but this might be the best one I’ve ever had. The crust was perfect, and the flavor combination was amazing. Ten out of ten, I highly recommend it if you find yourself in Seward.

A round wood-fired pizza on a black slate board over a rustic wooden table. The white pie has a puffy, blistered golden crust and is topped with melted mozzarella, dollops of red tomato, ribbons of leek, sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped pistachios, and a glossy drizzle of olive oil.
Our pizza at the Seward Brewing Company. I guess this makes me a food blogger now.

Still with some time, the two of us wandered the docks and stumbled on some Steller sea lions devouring fish carcasses while the gulls tried to pick off any scraps they could. It was fun to watch as they were really going at it for a long time.

Elliott and I took Astra for a walk while Cassidy finished up the last of her homework, then drove back to the campground, arriving a little after midnight.

We struck camp as soon as we woke, then made breakfast and coffee at the campground’s cooking shelter. Getting to the trailhead early meant none of the parking trouble I’d had with CJ the previous summer, and we were on the trail before 9:30.

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A single red-and-yellow western columbine flower hangs on a slender stem against a dark, blurred green background. Five red backward-pointing spurs flare above red-and-yellow petals, with a cluster of yellow stamens dangling below. A green leaf and unopened buds sit lower on the fuzzy stem.
Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) along the Harding Icefield Trail.
A loose spray of small white prickly saxifrage flowers on wiry green stems, rising against a soft-focus background of brown and green moss-covered rock. Each five-petaled bloom has a yellow-green center, and the petals are speckled with tiny dots that shade from yellow near the center to orange and red toward the tips.
Prickly saxifrage (Saxifraga tricuspidata). These tiny flowers are one of my favorites because of the color gradient in the dots on the petals.

Arriving earlier in the season meant many more wildflowers along the first mile. Many of these I’ll need to write up in my Alaska Wildflower Guide soon.

A single magenta-pink salmonberry flower with five petals and a green-and-tan center, set against vivid, backlit green foliage. Toothed, deeply veined leaves surround the bloom, glowing in bright light.
Salmonberry flowers (Rubus spectabilis) along the Harding Icefield Trail

I didn’t take many landscapes at the start of the trail because I was always looking down for flowers. There aren’t a lot of clearings down low anyway, mostly wandering through forest up steep switchbacks, only getting a few glimpses of Exit Glacier and the surrounding mountains through the trees.

After a steep climb, the first sweeping vistas of Exit Glacier appear.

Two hikers with daypacks stand side by side on a gravel overlook, seen from behind, facing the crevassed white-and-blue ice of Exit Glacier as it spills down a snow-streaked rock face. One raises a hand to shade their eyes or take a photo. Low cloud hangs over the peaks above.
Elliott and Cassidy in front of Exit Glacier
Exit Glacier flows down from a broad white icefield between snow-patched dark rock, its lower tongue broken into blue-tinged crevasses. In the foreground, a green tundra slope with low brush and a lingering snow patch drops away under a bright, cloudy sky.
Looking over Exit Glacier from the meadows along the Harding Icefield Trail.

Knowing that he still had a lot of climbing and hiking to do in the coming days, Elliott decided it would be wise to turn around at the first clearing. Cassidy and I were going to push to the top of the trail, especially with the weather as good as it was.

A close selfie of three smiling hikers, windblown hair across their faces, with the white expanse of Exit Glacier and snow-covered peaks behind them. On the left, a man in an orange cap with sunglasses on the brim and a short beard; in the middle, a younger man with long hair and an earring; on the right, a woman in a patterned headband with a nose ring.
Group selfie at the first meadows

We were in the snow almost immediately after Elliott parted. The other times I’ve hiked the trail much later in the season, the remaining snowpack was much higher, beyond the steeper terrain. But the snow was firm; I only postholed once or twice over the entire 2 miles or so one-way, so the hiking was easy. Well. Relatively easy. This trail is steep.

A woman in a sage-green hoodie and a patterned headband stands on a tundra slope with a small, easy smile, a daypack strap across her chest. Behind her, the crevassed blue-and-white tongue of Exit Glacier descends from a broad icefield between snow-streaked dark peaks under a pale cloudy sky.
Cassidy in front of the Exit Glacier, starting to get a better view of the Harding Icefield
A wide view across the snow-covered Harding Icefield under a blue sky with scattered cloud. Dark nunataks and a pyramid-shaped peak rise from the white expanse in the distance, a crevassed glacier tongue curves down at left, and a green tundra ridge with lingering snow patches drops away in the foreground.
Getting glimpses farther into the icefield as we hiked | Prints and Wall Art
A steep snowfield seen up close, the surface pitted with sun cups and stained in streaks and patches of pink and rose — watermelon snow, colored by algae living in the snow. A dark rock outcrop breaks through the white slope above, under a blue sky with light cloud.
Watermelon snow (Chlamydomonas nivalis), an algae that lives on the surface of the snow
A lone hiker in a pale hoodie and dark pants, seen from behind with a daypack, walks a boot-packed trail across a broad snowfield toward the snow-covered Harding Icefield. Dark nunataks and peaks rise along the skyline under a bright sky of broken cloud.
Cassidy hiking across the snowfields nearing the top of the Harding Icefield Trail.
A snow-covered expanse of the Harding Icefield sweeps up to a dark pyramid-shaped nunatak on the horizon. A patch of blue crevassed ice shows through the snow in the middle distance, and bare rock breaks through in the foreground under a partly cloudy sky.
Looking over the snow-covered Harding Icefield | Prints and Wall Art
The wide white basin of the Harding Icefield, ringed by snow-plastered dark peaks, with a band of blue crevasses and seracs cutting across the lower slope. A snow-covered foreground ridge with scattered rock drops away beneath a blue sky and building cloud.
The mouth of Exit Glacier and the Harding Icefield and crevasses | Prints and Wall Art
A broad view over the snow-covered Harding Icefield, cloud shadows dappling the snow, with jagged dark peaks along the far rim. A rocky outcrop and a sweep of sun-cupped snow fill the foreground under a sky of scattered cloud.
Getting closer to the trail terminus. Cloud shadows cast across the snow. Prints and Wall Art

We hiked fast through the last rolling section of rock and snow, opting to glissade through a downhill section and passing a few larger groups. There were significantly fewer people up here than lower on the trail, but it still felt like a lot compared to most places I hike in Alaska.

Approaching the overlook over the Harding Icefield, there was still blue sky, but some clouds were starting to close in. Still, this was the clearest view I’ve ever had of the icefield, looking across the nunataks in the distance. Most of the icefield was still covered in snow, ice only visible in a couple of crevassed areas.

Cassidy’s reaction at the top was the same pull I always feel up here — just drawn to keep going. She suggested walking a little further beyond the end of the trail, the only downside being that we’d have to hike back up. But we went. Taking a little break, we both spent time photographing some of the alpine flowers and the Icefield and glacier. The clouds took hold a little more, but I only noticed when we started getting a little sideways mist.

A hiker in a pale hoodie and dark pants, seen from behind with a daypack, walks a gravel trail along a rocky ridge toward the vast snow-covered Harding Icefield. Snow-draped peaks ring the white expanse under a big sky of broken cloud.
Cassidy approaching the end of the Harding Icefield Trail.
A dense cushion of small white five-petaled flowers growing tight against dark rock and low green foliage, each bloom with a pale green center, lit in warm side light.
Long-pod Stitchwort (Pseudocherleria macrocarpa) | Prints and Wall Art
A low green cushion plant studded with many small five-petaled magenta-pink flowers, sprawling across mossy ground and rock. Dark unopened buds dot the mat among a few dried grass stems.
Moss Campion (Silene acaulis) | Prints and Wall Art
A wide panorama across the Harding Icefield: a vast basin of snow ringed by snow-plastered dark peaks under heavy cloud, with a rocky, patchy-snow foreground. A tiny figure in a bright green jacket stands at far left, giving a sense of the enormous scale.
Panorama of the Exit Glacier and Harding Icefield. Cassidy on the left for scale.
A hiker in a bright green puffy jacket crouches low on a narrow strip of rocky tundra, photographing something at their feet. Behind and below, a huge snow-covered glacier basin sweeps up to snowy slopes, a patch of blue crevasses breaking the white.
Cassidy taking photos of flowers over Exit Glacier
A small figure in a bright green jacket walks a tundra ridge in the lower left, dwarfed by the immense snow-covered Harding Icefield and its ring of dark, snow-streaked peaks filling the frame behind.
One of my last views before we turned back
A cluster of bright yellow five-petaled flowers with orange-tinged centers rising from a low mat of silvery-green, hairy leaves, wedged in a crack of dark lichen-blotched rock.
(Likely) High Arctic Cinquefoil (Potentilla subvahliana) | Prints and Wall Art
A succulent plant with a rosette of fleshy, red-edged green leaves and a dense head of deep maroon-red flowers tipped with tiny coral buds, growing among angular gray talus.
Western Roseroot (Rhodiola integrifolia) | Prints and Wall Art
A close selfie of two smiling hikers with the snow-covered Harding Icefield and dark peaks behind them. On the left, a man in an orange cap with sunglasses on the brim and a graying beard; on the right, a woman in a bright green puffy jacket and a fish-patterned headband with a nose ring.
Selfie at the turnaround

The mist turned to fog, and the drops got heavier, so it was time to head back. We moved faster, now that the majority of walking was downhill, only stopping briefly at the trail shelter, which we were disappointed to find locked.

A hiker in a green jacket walks a gravel path toward a small log emergency shelter with a peaked metal roof, perched at the edge of a vast snowfield. Snow-covered slopes and dark cloud-wrapped peaks rise behind under a stormy sky.
Walking up to the Harding Icefield shelter
Seen from behind and above, a person in a green jacket and patterned headband leans close to the weathered wood-plank door of the shelter, one hand pressed to the boards, peering through a gap between the planks.
Cassidy trying to peek inside

We glissaded every chance we got on the way down, which turned out to be a lot. Eventually, Cassidy’s butt started to hurt, and I was soaking wet, so we did the last few snow descents on foot.

Whatever rain hit us at the end of the trail never reached these lower elevations, so it got hot again in the sunlight. The trip down was quick and uneventful, but very crowded. Once we hit the lower portion of the trail, it seemed like the stream of traffic in both directions was constant. Not really my cup of tea, but at least it was short-lived.

Another bittersweet end to a trip, as this marked our last day on the Kenai Peninsula before meeting up with the team kids in Hatcher. I don’t think I could have asked for a better one with my first clear views of the icefield and good company.

A hiker in a sage hoodie and dark pants, seen from behind with a daypack, walks a narrow dirt trail through bright green brush toward a towering snow-streaked rock face laced with meltwater gullies, under a blue sky with white cloud.
Cassidy on the lower trail
The tongue of Exit Glacier, its blue-and-white crevassed ice spilling down between dark rock walls, with thin waterfalls streaming from snowfields above and green brush framing the lower slopes under a bright partly cloudy sky.
Exit Glacier and waterfalls lower on the trail | Prints and Wall Art
   

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