Hike to Andrews Glacier

I put the photos of the Andrews Glacier side hike onto a separate webpage because it seemed like a different trip than our hike up to Glass Lake and Skypond. Although it is only a mile from the trail branch (and several hundred feet of elevation gain) from the Skypond Trail to the Andrews Tarn, it seemed like a much longer trip because we lost the trail and ended up in a boulder field. We knew where the Andrews Tarn was, but we found ourselves stuck climbing over rocks.

We sat down and ate an afternoon snack, and spent some time looking at the Sharkstooth rock formation and "The Gash", which is the name of the open space below the Sharkstooth rock. We were going to start walking back down the trail, when Melanie noticed some people walking along high above us on the rocks. We yelled up to them, and they told us that they were indeed on the trail. It certainly looked like they were on a good trail, judging from the pace they were moving (of course, they were headed downhill). So we scrambled up to the rocks to where we saw them hiking and find ourselves back on the trail.

Re-energized, we started back up to the glacier. I mistakenly headed off in the wrong direction a couple of times, but not too far, and it was a quick walk back to find the point where I left the trail. Eventually we reach the final steep ascent to tarn. We hiked up the steep hillside and reached the lakeside. We had made it to Andrews Glacier! We stayed up there admiring the view for a while, including some time spent watching a man navigate his way down the ice from Andrews Pass.

Going back down was much easier. We rejoined the Skypond Trail, and followed our morning route all the way back to the car. Another excellent day of hiking!


I took a video showing Alberta Falls in afternoon light.

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Andrews Glacier Photos