Day 200: Nice ice

Today's unexpectedly good weather gave us an excuse to rethink our original plans and hike up to Wedgemount Lake instead. The trail up to the lake was as steep as I remember (and much more slippery given the recent wet weather), and the compacted icy snow at the top of the slope made things a little tricky. The lake, of course, was stunning - the south shore scree slopes were dusted in white right down to the green water's edge, while the surrounding peaks and glaciers shone brightly against the occasional patches of blue sky.

Our goal for the day was to touch the Wedgemount Glacier and to see the ice cave we'd seen in other photos. We reached the end of the lake and climbed up the boulders to get our first view of the cave and were stunned to see how large it was. Maria walked closer and I got a couple of photos which captured its size quite well, the deep blue ice an even greater contrast with all the fresh snow surrounding us. The glacier even creaked a couple of times, which was heart-stopping given how close we were :-) We hung around for quite a while, taking plenty of pictures, but really mostly just in awe of the spectacle of the blue ice. It was hard to leave such a stunning place.

Ice cave