this sign here that says 2010 basically means that the glacier
was covering all of the surface here up until this mark
and it all melted because of high temperatures
it's crazy
we're Trekking Pals habiba and alex and for the last few weeks we have been
calling Alaska home. working from our little tiny airbnb
during the week and hitting the hiking trails during the
weekends exploring the last frontier challenging ourselves learning and
appreciating the opportunity to escape the heat
of the desert
very excited for today this is supposed to be one of the
best national parks in the country
i was clearly very excited to be in kenai fjords national park
and excited for the opportunity to see a glacier
up close and have this unique intimate experience with
xa glacier to be specific but today was one of those days
where we went out for an adventure but instead
we came back with the lesson we came back with the story
and with a screaming reality that's going to change us forever
uh we are right about to walk to the visitor center here
uh just to inquire about the weather what to expect on the trail and then
today we're going to do the exit glacier they are talking about
uh awareness in their country not approaching bears a description of
what a defensive black bear could do especially a mama bear with her
cubs and so on and then there are some information
about the exit glacier which is a one mile hike to this beautiful
viewpoint here and then there is the main age
i.t trailer i was talking about that goes all the way up it's a steep
3 000 feet elevation gain from what i
read
exit glacier is a glacier derived from the hardened ice field
in the kenai mountains of alaska and one of the major
attractions of the park but the interesting thing about this glacier or
this short hike to the face of the glacier
is that it's a true visible indicator of glacial recession due to climate
change 195 years of documented accelerating
pullback because of climate change because of
rising temperatures and every year is clearly worse than its
predecessor unbelievable surface that the glacier
was covering back then
so as we were driving to the park on the road
at the trailhead and on the trail itself and all the way up to the rocky surface
next to the glaciers we noticed signs 1961 1951
1926 1917 and even more to realize that these are
years and these signs are marking the impact of climate change
on this glacier and showing how it looked like in
every single year screaming reality in front of you
of how much the glacier is receding how much it has retreated the last dozen
years and how things that usually take 100
years to happen are actually happening right now in
months if not days
comparing the change between right now 2020
and 10 years ago is very shocking and to know for fact that we as
humans are contributing to this change is really heartbreaking
we even met a couple on the trail and they were
so shocked and so surprised at how the glacier looks currently
compared to when they first visited the glacier about 20 years ago
on the way back we even saw a pavilion along the path and little did we know
this pavilion was once a place to view the glacier and
now it's all surrounded by trees elders
just like it was never there before
this episode in particular is really a call to action
to think about what's happening around us and to choose
one small thing from our lifestyle or daily habits
and change it and change it in a way that it can contribute
to making a difference it can be as small as using a reusable water bottle
a reusable straw grocery bags recycling in general or any small acts
that can really make a difference and help us to be and
stay on the right path to preserve our
natural resources for our future and the future of the
next generations thank you guys for watching i hope that
you found today's episode to be both informative and eye-opening your
trekking path hadiba and alex and we'll see you soon on a new
adventure