Once we arrived in the Glenallen area, everyone we talked to tried to talk us out of the trip. The BLM office said that there would "definitely" be dangerous ice shelves on the river. But they hadn't actually seen that part of the river to know for sure. I thought we'd hike in on the trail, and check it out and then decide whether to float or hike back out. But then the people at the Sourdough Roadhouse (who will shuttle your car for you) said that the trail we planned to hike was loaded with hungry, aggresive bears this time of year. "I wouldn't hike that trail without a really big gun," they said. So now we weren't sure we wanted to hike it the trail once, never mind twice if there was ice on the river.