When I was growing up, my parents would
regale me with stories of their adventures in Alaska— particularly their
accounts of glaciers, which they visited by foot, ski or kayak. I have since
been enamored of these ice rivers, but most of my hiking has been done in
Southwest Washington or in Idaho, where there are few easily accessible
glaciers. I have seen them in the distance— on the slopes of Rainier or in the
crater of St. Helens— but for the most part they have been too far away to make
a deep impression. My quest to encounter a real, crevasse filled, blue tinged,
rock crushing glacier finally led me to Heliotrope Ridge on Mt. Baker, where
the awesome spread of the Coleman Glacier lay waiting. Read more at seattlebackpackersmagazine.com
