On Thursday (6th), we left the little town of Hope and traveled to Portage Valley this morning in the rain – :-(. Once we got our site at Williwaw Campground in the Chugach National Forest, we went to Girdwood to get water and dump our tanks. After we set up, we went to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center where I hugged this fellow:
We also got some information on the trails and spent time in the museum. Portage Valley is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains and many glaciers. In the winter they have over 100 FEET OF SNOW on the mountains and 30 FEET OF SNOW in the valley – can you imagine!!
This is Portage Lake:
This is one of the tunnels that leads to Whittier:
The day cleared up and we enjoyed the sun and of course a great campfire! Here is our site:
This campground is beautiful and so is the area. Here is the view from our picnic table:
And we can hear water running off the glacier right above us – Oh my!!
Stats:
Miles Traveled: 44 miles
Routes Traveled:
Alaska: SR-? (Hope Highway); SR-1 (Seward Highway); Portage Glacier Road
On Friday (7th), we went back to the visitor center to hear a program on Alaska Nellie, one of the many incredible women who came here in the early 1900s to homestead. What courageous people! After that we took a walk around the lake. Byron Glacier is in the distance.
Burns Glacier and Shakespeare Glacier are across the lake. Portage Glacier is around the mountain on the right. You can no longer see it from the visitor center.
I was expecting a package so off to Girdwood, we went. It was not there (but later in the day I did get it – Thanks, Tina). And we saw our friends, Shelly and Bill. They are camped next to us and we spent the afternoon and evening with them getting caught up (they were the hosts after us at Creamer’s Refuge in Fairbanks). It is so good to see them and we hope to spend the next few days together. And, of course, another great campfire evening.
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