Mendenhall Glacier - Part 2

Laying frozen in the lake there were very many icebergs that had calved from the glacier, and because the air temperature was at freezing they were all still blue............

There was no-one else walking in the snow heading towards the falls.

We had the place to ourselves, and everywhere I turned there were pictures waiting to be taken..........

At one point, still heading out and towards the falls, I looked to the right of me and was surprised to see people balancing on the rocks wearing helmets.

After my initial surprise I saw climbing helmets and heard someone yell "on belay".

Ice climbers.

I have done a good deal of rock climbing in the past (which I am not keen on truthfully because it is far too much work) and rappelling (which is a good deal more fun for exactly the opposite reason).

Since arriving in Juneau I have wanted to learn enough about using things like ice axes so I could successfully navigate through large snow/ice fields that turned me back a couple of times on trails in the mountains last winter.

But to climb ice falls just to climb ice falls??  Nope.  Not interested.  Too much work..........

The partially frozen falls - beautiful and rugged.........

While LC and I were standing at the falls and taking pictures, we looked out over the lake.

There were a couple of walkers we had followed for a while as they continued to walk on the frozen lake directly towards the glacier itself.

There were other lake walkers that we could see as well - some just walking, and others still either climbing on top of or crawling underneath icebergs in the lake.

And then we saw what we thought initially was a snow mobile on the opposite side of the lake, moving very quickly across the ice and heading towards the couple who were close to the glacier.

We saw the snow mobile stop at the couple for a few minutes and then continue on...........

Closeups of parts of the waterfall.........

We took many pictures of the falls and the glacier and turned preparing to head back the way we had come.

As we turned we saw two men dressed in orange, obviously emergency personnel heading towards us.

At first I thought that they may be doing some kind of practice drill, but their body language seemed to indicate that they were not involved in a drill.

When we all finally reached each other they asked me if we had seen anybody on the lake close to the glacier.

We told them of the couple we had seen walking, but we could still see them walking when we turned to look.

The guys were Juneau firefighters and they had received a report of someone falling through the ice.

Through conversation we learned that the snow mobile was actually a four wheeler and was with the JFD as well.

They were definitely all looking for someone who had fallen through.

The two guys on foot eventually met up with the four wheeler and then they all continued further out onto the ice...........

Another 30 minutes later we were back at the parking lot, and saw three emergency vehicles in the parking lot.

When we saw one firefighter standing beside his truck we asked him if they had found the person, and he told us yes.

I asked him if the person was alright and he again said yes.

I'll check the Juneau Empire tomorrow to see if that is really the case and try to find out more..........

My Mountain Boy walking through a canopy of branches and snow on the way back to the truck.........