Alaska Day 8: Paddle Boarding on a Glacier
The drive from Talkeetna to Outbound Heli Adventures in Palmer, AK took about 2 hours. The sun was shining and I was over the moon that this day had finally arrived. While so much of this trip was for my Dad, I booked this experience to satisfy the adventurer in me.
Leading up to the trip, I had been in contact with Bridget, the owner of Outbound Heli Adventures. She is a TON of fun and gave me some great and much needed advice when it came to navigating Alaska and what I should do/see. She is good people and I’m happy to shout that from the mountain tops being that this experience is not exactly inexpensive. You want to know that you’re in good hands and I cannot sing her praises enough. The whole team there is wonderful. Outbound Heli Adventures offers all kinds of helicopter excursions from ice climbing to glacier trekking, but it was Glacier Paddle Boarding that really called to me.
I arrived to their base around 1pm and the staff was already busy loading the gear into the helicopter that we’d be taking out. Bridget had assembled a bad ass team to join me for the day. There were 5 of us flying out together: Pilot Chris, Nova Guide Jesse, an incredibly talented photographer + drone operator named Jake Sloan, and a local outdoor guide named Teresa Moss, who is credited with dreaming up and helping to make the SUP experience a reality with Outbound Heli. To say I was in good company would be an understatement. Tip: Teresa aka “T” also leads some of her own epic Alaska adventure tours. Check out her company here.
Watch on Reels
flightseeing
The tour started with some nearby “flightseeing.” We flew along the Knik River, past the Knik Glacier, and headed towards the Lake George Glacier. Chris landed a few hundred feet from one of the ice walls and we all got out to take a closer look. It was ENORMOUS. The ice wall was 220 feet high in spots. It’s hard to capture the scale in photos, but I pulled a still from one of Jake’s drone videos to show you. We are so tiny!
Standing by the Ice Wall
Glacier Calving
Lake George Glacier Ice Wall
Iceberg
Lake George Glacier
Lake George
Knik River
Knik River Valley
After being out there for 15-20 minutes, we got back into the helicopter and headed towards the Knik Glacier for some paddle boarding. I had seen a lot of glaciers by this point in the trip, but flying directly over one of the largest in south central Alaska took my breath away. At 25 miles long and around 5 miles wide, along with an ice field that averages 200 feet thick, it was one powerful piece of nature. For reference, the Knik glacier is around twice the size of Manhattan.
Knik Glacier Fun Facts
The Knik Glacier is a valley glacier and
a small remnant of a past ice age
Its ice field is 400 feet thick in spots
It is the centerpiece of the 17,000 acre
Lake George National Natural Landmark
Some call it the “sunny glacier” because it’s located in a rain shadow, which gives it a unique and diverse ecosystem
Chris and Jesse knew exactly where they were going since these excursions need to be planned out ahead of time for safety reasons. They spotted the glacial pool from the sky and our descent began. Here is a video of the actual landing so you can truly get a feel for this other worldly experience.
The sheer size of the glacier beneath my feet was astounding, but there was an unexpected calm as I stepped down onto the ice. It was surreal in so many ways. Unlike all of my other glacier interactions thus far, this time there was no wind and no drastic drop in temperature. It wasn’t even that cold. The stillness of it all felt like a dream.
I turned to the group and said something along the lines of, “I know you are all used to coming out here, but this is one of the most (insert expletives) incredible things I have ever experienced.” They all gave me a smile and a nod, then quickly got to work setting things up.
PADDLE BOARDING oN A GLACIER
Chris set up some snacks on the ice while Jesse and Teresa inflated the paddle boards. I was tasked with getting my dry suit on, which was harder that I thought. Trying to get it over my big head was a bit of a problem as you can see in the photo below.
Jake grabbed a mug and filled it with water from the nearby melt pool for me to try. I know I’ve read that you’re not supposed to drink it because of what could be in the melting ice, but it was the most refreshing water I have ever consumed. Jake told me not to drink it too fast, but I didn’t listen and was rewarded with an epic brain freeze. We got a good laugh out of it.
We put the boards into the melt stream and Teresa paddled off. I on the other hand was riding the struggle bus for a bit. I have paddle boarded many times, but this was different. The water in the stream was very shallow in spots so you can’t easily paddle like you would in open water. Jesse suggested I try kneeling on the board and using my paddle in two parts to push off the bottom or the walls. Of course I didn’t want to do that because I thought it would look stupid, so I opted for standing up and attempting to paddle upstream. Pro Tip: Listen to your guide!
It’s funny to see me covered in gear with my big helmet. Quite the contrast from native Alaskan Teresa out there in a tank top and baseball cap. She is a boss!
Off to a slow start
Ice Walls Towering Above Me
Lots of Curves
Sometimes you paddle slightly uphill
When I finally gave in and kneeled!
Jesse cheered me on, made fun of me a bit (I deserved it) and took a zillion photos and videos along the way. Once I got the hang of things, I was able to shift my focus to my surroundings. I was in complete awe. To think that the stream I was paddling along was formed by natural processes is wild. It was like a labyrinth of giant ice walls towering above my head.
The stream had some serious curves too. Jake captured Mother Nature’s artwork so beautifully from above.
Natural curve in the melt stream
Paddling one of the curves
Melt Pool
At one point, I paddled past a small crevasse with the most electric blue ice. I couldn’t help but wonder how old it was. I also heard the glacier move once while we were out there. It’s a daunting sound, but I didn’t feel or see anything move so that’s all that matters!
Eventually I made it out to the pool. It was very easy to paddle around out there but there was a thin layer of ice that Teresa and I had to break with our paddles.
They let us stay out there and paddle for a while. It was so incredibly peaceful. This was a day and an experience I will never forget. I know I have already included a lot of photos, but here are some more. The memory of this will always be seared in my mind, but it’s nice to have all these photos and videos to share with others.
