The top of the glacier is only exposed around the mountains, where the wind is strong enough to blow the area clear of all snow.  The exposed glacier is very clear and bumpy because the sun melts some parts of the ice and the wind blows the melted water.  It is very slippery and difficult to walk or drive on.

The glacier follows along the base of the mountains and therefore takes the shape of the base of the mountains.  When the sun shines on it, it looks almost like an ocean.  
 

Sometimes with the snow it looks like you are on a beach with the ocean.  Off in the distance, you can see the continuation of the Independence Mountains, which are shaped in a horseshoe around the valley we were staying in. 

In some places, you can see blue ice for miles and miles without any snow.  You can see our guide up on the left side of this picture which gives you some scale.    

We took a plane ride around the area one day and it was incredible how much of the glacier you could see and how you could see where it was moving.  Here, the glacier is moving over a low part of the Independence mountain range - that drop is at least 300 feet tall.  

Also, you could see in certain areas exactly how the glacier was moving and how the mountains reshaped the glacier.  This is another aerial shot  of the glacier after it went around the Independence range.

In some places, rocks that were stuck in the ice have warmed under the sun and melted holes in the ice.  Here, Matt is sitting in a hole in the ice that was big enough to fit his whole body.