Herbert Glacier

Went for a hike with Lauren yesterday out to the Herbert glacier. This is such a great trail. It is fast and wide at the start, designed for bikes, then around mile 3 it abruptly runs smack into "pink flag" terrain (Where's the trail? Oh! Look! Follow the pink flags tied to bushes!)
There are two ares where the Herbert river is right next to the trail. It is so pretty; a smokey color that is caused by glacial silt, and then helped this day by the over cast skies.

Getting up to the glacier, rapids pop out, sending a nice mist over the area, and cooling us down quite nicely.

Yay! Self portrait!


This is the first view of the glacier we got. Here we're still about two miles from our stopping point.So pretty! The sun popped through the clouds for just a moment and lit the top of what we could see.




This is the underbelly of a piece of glacier that had been severed from the face. Herbert is receding. Even in the five years since I'd been here, there has been some pretty drastic change.

It is still gorgeous. The pictures don't do it justice.




Such a great day!

The trail itself was 4.6 miles one way. After we had hiked all around near the glacier, Lauren and I are content to say we did an even 10 miles round trip. There were tons of people out, even with the rain starting to fall as we were coming back.

Lauren and I are both fairly competitive, and we saw a pack of runners just as we were coming back to the wide portion of the trail - they were going in. They happen to be from a competitor bus company, so we decided to run the rest of the way back. It is so hard to run with a back pack on! Silly, I know, but it kept us both motivated and energized for those last miles.

After, we met up with Mary and went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. Sushi at the Canton House was delicious, and it's always great to talk with my girlfriends. They are wonderful ladies.

And then *poof*! Dan comes tomorrow! I've taken to calling it D-day, with the countdown in full effect around those who know he's coming. I'm off again today (not happy about that) which means I'll be pacing around and being in a anxious state, unable to keep my mind focused for long periods of time (it's taken me much longer than you think to get this post out).

Enjoy the photos. Again, click on any one you want to see larger. It helps to see more detail in the glacier pics. So pretty!