Alaska - The Herbert Glacier Trail

Imagine riding through a glacial-carved valley amidst a dense rainforest of towering spruce and hemlock trees, the forest floor a lush green web of skunk cabbage, devil’s club, and ferns. Soft rays of light float beneath old-growth canopy like gossamer threads and a nearby river gurgles and splashes its way to the sea. This is the setting for the Herbert Glacier Trail, one of Juneau, Alaska’s most ridable trails.

The 4.5 mile Herbert Glacier Trail begins 28 miles north of Juneau, accessible via the road that traces the jagged coastline and ends 45 miles from town. Grand views of the Lynn Canal fjord and the Chilkat Mountain Range grace the route on the way to the trailhead. As suggested by the name, the trail leads to the Herbert Glacier, ending at a wide, sandy outwash deposited by the braided waters of the Herbert River that has the glacier as its source.

Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, population 31,000, is surrounded by the 17-million acre Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States. Accessible only by boat or airplane, no roads connect Juneau to the rest of the state or to Canada. A land of glacier-carved fjords and 3,000-foot peaks, Southeast Alaska’s terrain is not easily conducive to road building. But a wonderful network of trails offers plenty of variety to the adventuresome cyclist.

A local trail maintenance non-profit, “Trail Mix,” with much volunteer labour and funding from various sources, has worked to make some trails accessible to those with disabilities, making it possible to traverse them by wheel chair. Layers of hard-packed dirt and fine gravel are laid down to create a relatively smooth pathway through the forest, making it very suitable for riding a road bike with slightly wider tires than the norm. The Herbert Glacier Trail is one example of such an “upgrade.” As one approaches the glacier, the trail narrows considerably, runs along a cliff beside the river and becomes rock-strewn and root-filled, making the going more challenging. Suddenly, the thick alders open up, offering a spectacular view to the glacier a couple of miles distant. Azure blue seracs rise 100 feet or more along the heavily crevassed front of this retreating river of ice. The 1,500-acre Juneau Icefield is the source for the Herbert Glacier as well as numerous other glaciers whose advancing or retreating tongues scour the landscape.

The Herbert River exits the glacier through a boulder-strewn canyon at its left, rushing over polished rocks to the out-wash plain where the braided river has changed course many times, often widening and overflowing into the trees and onto the trail.

Our outing to the glacier was on a sunny day in August. On a good day, temperatures can rise into the high 60s and even 70s in Juneau, rarely warmer. It rains so much (an average of 90” per year), that locals refer to the “tyranny of the sun.” Regardless of how many chores or projects one needs to get done, when a clear, sunny day appears one feels compelled to spend it doing something fun outdoors.

We packed a picnic lunch and rode our Bob Jackson randoneur bikes, outfitted with 32mm tires. The trail winds through the spruce and hemlock forest offering several views of the river, climbing almost imperceptibly on its way to the glacier, with a few short, steeper rolling sections over glacial moraine. This makes for a swift ride on the return trip, with little need to pedal much of the way. Once the trail petered out, we found a flat spot with a clear view of the glacier and set out our picnic spread; wine, sandwiches and some pastries from our local bakery, Paradise Cafe.

We feel lucky and privileged to have lived in a place as wild and beautiful as Alaska. After 36 years in the state, we recently moved to northern Wisconsin, in the Midwest of the United States, where the road and mountain biking are superb and where we will seek out rough stuff riding on the many dirt and gravel forest roads. However, we miss the mountains and the wilderness of Alaska...

Barbara Kelly
(Hayward, Wisconsin, USA)