Samuel Glacier Hike
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On the way back from Haines we camp a night on the pass, then hike into Samuel Glacier the next morning.
It’s a beautiful 10km into the glacier, along an old abandoned mining road that’s mostly flat.
The lush green valley at the start of the hike
There are tons of little rivers to cross
The hike starts in a lush green valley, which turns to sub alpine scrub as we gradually increase elevation.
Arriving at the glacier is surreal
Heather off to the left for scale
When the glacier first appears in the distance it looks tiny, though as we get closer and closer we realize it’s anything but.
Heather loving the view
It’s difficult to imagine the immense size of the glaciers we’re looking at – the river pouring from the bottom is a raging torrent.
It’s a little windy :)
We explore up and down the valley for a couple of hours before the wind and rain close in and we high-tail it back to the trailhead, then town. Another amazing weekend of exploring in and around Haines, Alaska.
-Dan
Dan, 3 of my friends (fit, but around 70) would like to hike into and out of the glacier in a day.
Whitehorse and stay a night in Haines Jct. We have conflicting information – is it a difficult climb?
Great pictures.
Irene
Hi Irene,
I’ve done the hike as a day trip and as an overnighter.
You can absolutely get in and out in a single day, though it’s going to be a long, ~20km day.
Arrive at the trailhead nice and early to give yourselves the entire day (maybe 10 ish hours walking)
The trail is almost entirely flat, and extremely easy to follow – no chance of losing the trail.
Have fun!
-Dan
Irene, if you haven’t tried it yet (since your question was 3 weeks ago). I did the day-hike in 6 1/2 hours last weekend (I’m 65). There’s a lot of up-and-down but the total elevation gain isn’t much, although it was for me because I climbed high up the side of the Datlasaka Range to get off the wet and brushy road/trail. The further to the right (north) you go, the better the glacier views are.