Byron glacier was an unexpected surprise on an otherwise disappointing day. We headed south of Anchorage to Girdwood in search of horseback riding but we never found the place listed in the tour book despite driving deep into the mountains on a dirt road. Our backup plan was to go to Portage glacier about 10 miles away however its only accessable by boat and those tours were closed for the season. Along the road to the Portage glacier we could see this glacier and our fortunes changed when we discovered the access trail to Byron glacier.
About a mile and a half along the riverside trail, the brush disappears and you are in the middle of the rocks and boulders at the base of the glacier. This glacier had the unique feature of having tunnels going back into the ice.
After walking up to the face of Exit glacier and boating to watch Aialik glacier calving, I was thrilled to be able to go inside Byron glacier... Pattie on the other hand didn't take to my enthusiasm! I did convince her to climb up onto the ice but that lead to her struggling off as you can see in this video clip...