Ancient Ice by Nadia Kamrath

The sun rose. It was strong but the chill in the air made my body shake. My feet made a rhythmic sound as I walked down the narrow path. As I stepped up onto the bus I quivered for another reason. Today was the day I was going to witness something so magnificent and large, it would take anyone's breath away ... but first, I was going to have to conquer one of my fears and I wasn't so sure I was ready.

Rrrrrrr. I plugged my ears and shut my eyes as a helicopter shot up in the sky, heading towards the mountains. I felt the dirt underneath me and with relief recognized I was still on the ground. I felt my heart pound as I recalled what I was about to do. I couldn't turn around now, all I could do was wait in line.

    There were two people in front of me, four behind and one last helicopter ... it was approaching. I could see it. I could feel it. I had to close my eyes as dirt flew at my face. I wanted to turn around but I knew that wasn't an option. I grabbed onto my mom’s arm as we lowered our heads and dashed towards the helicopter.

    The headphones over my ears were big and bulky and all I could hear was the sound of our stern pilot. As I held my breath, we rose into the air like a weightless bird against the periwinkle sky. The mountains in front of us were dusted with white and reached high into the clouds. We climbed high until the landing pad was only a speck in the distance. My breath finally slowed.

I was going to be ok.

    Once we reached our destination I was in awe. I had been so fixated on the plane ride, I never thought of what was to come:

The Franz Josef Glacier.

The Franz Josef Glacier is a slowly moving mass of ice, that has accumulated 6.8 miles of snow and ice, forming over thousands of years. Glaciers are called ‘rivers of ice’ because they appear to move in a similar way if one views time-lapse footage taken overlong a long-term period. The Franz Josef Glacier is currently retreating which began in the 1800’s. During this time, it has also experienced some advances, the biggest one in 1983. From 2008 till now, it has lost 800 meters of length. Some argue that this is because of global warming, which is a possibility, but studies also show that it may be part of its natural cycles.

I had never seen a glacier before. I had never stepped on its thick ice. I had never sipped the streaming water created by the sun’s warmth. I had never dug my spiky shoes or climbed through a hole with mountains of ice above me.

The glacier was massive, embedding itself into the steep mountainside. I was mesmerized. We embarked on our hike over the difficult terrain and I found myself beginning to drip with sweat. One step, I dug my feet into the ice. Two steps, I held onto the rope. Three steps, I had reached a peak. I gazed at the space in front of me. Miles and miles of glacier to come. My layers of gear weighed down on my back as we continued forward.

Standing on a glacier it’s almost impossible for the mind to grasp how big it really is. It felt like we traveled far but, that's when I saw six tiny figures hiking in the distance. My eyes bulged. They looked like miniscule ants miles away. How could they be that far from us? Was the glacier really that big?

By the time we stopped to catch our breath, I had already taken off three layers and stuffed them in my pack. I was panting and I bent over to take another sip of the icy water. The cold liquid flowed down my chin, cooling my overheated body. As I glanced up at its source, I was in awe. This water was most likely thousands of years older than I am. Ancient water from ancient ice.

    We turned back heading towards where we began. When we reached the flat(ish) spot where the helicopter would meet us, I looked around one last time in an effort to take it all in. It’s an amazing experience, standing on an ice encrusted mountain formed so very long ago. We can’t be sure what the future will hold for this “river of ice.” Here I can only hope it will stay.