Nice to see the sunshine again today with the temperature starting at 53 degrees reaching to a high of 65 degrees during the afternoon. We journeyed a little over a hundred miles from Palmer to Girdwood. We left at 9:45 a.m. and arrived at noon.
We followed the Old Glenn Highway (Alaska Hwy 1 South) to the Seward Highway.
It wasn't long before we were passing by Anchorage on our way to Girdwood.
And then we went by the Cook Inlet and McHugh Creek.
We saw an Alaska train pass by right next to the highway.
And then while we were on the Seward Highway, we passed the sign for Beluga Point. Beluga Point is a rocky outpost jutting into the waters of Turnagain Arm, that is just south of Anchorage along Seward Highway. It's named for the white whales that are often spotted from this location as they make their way up and down the inlet. Beluga whales are often seen from mid-July through August when the salmon are running in Cook Inlet where their numbers have hovered between 300 to 375 whales. Belugas use their sonar to find their way and catch fish in the silty waters of the inlet.
And then we hit another area of road construction on the Seward Highway.
As we continued along the Seward Highway, the Cook Inlet provided us beautiful views of mountain along the water.
The Seward Highway continued to twist and turn through the Cook Inlet.
We were finally about 10 miles from Girdwood.
The railroad tracks continued to follow us switching back and forth from one side to the other.
And then we finally drove by Girdwood knowing it would not be too long until we were at our turnoff for Williwaw Campground.
Girdwood has a population of 1,882 and is located on the Alyeska Highway, 39 miles south of
Anchorage. The town was named after Col. James Girdwood, who established a
mining operation near here in 1901. Alyeska Highway is a
two-lane road that leads back three miles to the small town of Girdwood. Girdwood was founded during the gold rush, and was one of several towns in South Central
Alaska that was seriously affected by the epic earthquake on Good Friday in
1964. Like Valdez, Girdwood was relocated to higher ground after much of it was
destroyed by the earthquake and resultant high tides (the town sunk eight or nine
feet).
We drove by the Chugach National Forest & Prince William Sound Information Center.
We had glimpses of glaciers along the way.
And then we hit another brief area of road construction.
With Portage Glacier only about 6 miles away, we were soon to our turnoff for Williwaw.
Just a few more twists and turns on the highway and we were soon at the Williwaw Campground.
We're finally at Williwaw Campground. Williwaw is the largest of the two campgrounds in Portage Valley. It has about 60 sites. We are staying for two nights on site #37. It was a wonderful campground, peaceful and quiet (but no hookups). It was $11.50/night because we got it for half price using our Golden Access National Park Pass.
Around 1:15 p.m., after getting set up we decided to drive into Girdwood and check on availability of the Portage Glacier Cruise at the Portage Glacier Lodge.
Since there was availability, we decided to go on the one hour cruise from 3 to 4 p.m. We used our two for one coupon out of the Alaska Tour Saver coupon book that we bought (so it was $45 for both of us).
Having some time before our cruise, we went over to the Begich Boggs Visitor Center.
The Begich Boggs Visitor Center is located in Portage Valley on the northwestern shore of Portage Lake and was built on the terminal moraine left behind by Portage Glacier almost a century ago. Smokey the bear greeted us as we entered the visitor center.
While we were at the visitor center, we found that one of the information boards had a possible ancestor of Mel (see below regarding W.C. Mendenhall).
The information board below tells the story of Benny Benson and the creation of the Alaska State flag.
I thought it was pretty cool to see the life-size statue of a mamma moose and her baby.
The information boards about the paths, places and people were interesting.
We watched the movie "Voices from the Ice" at the visitor center, and then after the movie, they opened the curtain to reveal a beautiful sight (see below).
It was soon time to drive over to the place where we would be boarding the Portage Glacier Cruise (as we were supposed to be there a half an hour early).
Below are a few of the views before we boarded the vessel that we were taking the cruise on.
We cruised across Portage Lake on the mv Ptarmigan, where we were able to stand just 300 yards from a relic of the Ice Age (Portage Glacier) and watched for fractures of ice breaking off the glacier and crashing into the water below.
In the picture below you can see a waterfall down the side of the mountain.
Portage Glacier and Portage Peak are both located in a sub-artic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters and mild summers in the Chugach Mountain range.
We picked a great time to go on this hour cruise, as there wasn't too many people on this cruise.
Portage Glacier has advanced and retreated over the years due to climatic fluctuations. The diagram below illustrates the retreat of both the Portage and Burns Glaciers over the last century. The blue colors show the position of Portage Lake and the main retreat of Portage Glacier. The brown tones indicate land and the main retreat of Burns Glacier.
Our first glimpse of Portage Glacier.
Portage Glacier is a glacier on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and is included within the Chugach National Forest. It is located south of Portage Land and 4 miles west of Whittier, Alaska.
Portage Glacier was a local name first recorded in 1898 by Thomas Corwin Mendenhall of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, so called because it is on a portage route between Prince William Sound and Turnagain Arm. Hundreds of years ago the glacier filled the entire Portage Valley, a distance of 14 miles and was connected to what are now five separate glaciers.
The left side of glacier is not as active as the right side (as you can see below that the right side comes all the way down to the water).
Mel and Shirley in front of Portage Glacier. Below, Mel is holding a chunk of the glacier ice.
After the cruise, we drove back toward the campground and decided to go through the tunnel that would lead us to the train tunnel that we would be going through tomorrow on our way to Whittier, Alaska.
It wasn't a very long tunnel and soon we were coming out the other side.
And this view of the Chugach Mountains.
Driving only a short distance further we came to the information sign on what our round trip would cost to go through the tunnel ($13).
We turned around here and went back through the tunnel on our way home.
And back out the other side.
For dinner tonight we had grilled chicken thighs and twice baked potatoes. We sure enjoyed our cruise to the beautiful mountain glacier -- Portage Glacier.
Icy chills and cheers to you!
Shirley & Mel
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