August 6-7, 2009 – Portage and Friends

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.

August 14, 2007 – The Tram and Ice Worms

Another beautiful morning!

Girdwood is a small town about 10 miles from Portage. The Alyeska Resort in the town is mainly a year round resort with skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. We decided to visit the resort, take the tram to the top and have lunch.

Here is the tram (as a perspective, this tram holds 60 people):


Views from the top:

Girdwood:

Turnagain Arm (the road on the right next to the water is the Seward Highway):

Another view:

There were lots of trails here but it started to rain when we were having lunch so we decided to head back. How about this:

Take a look at these flowers at the resort:

Ice Worms – did you ever hear of them?? - Neither did we until Yvonne told us about them when we were in Homer.

The National Forest Service was doing an Ice Worm Safari on Bryon Glacier this afternoon so we decided to join. We were told that there was a good chance of seeing them since it was cloudy and cool.

So off we went to Bryon Glacier and snow fields:

When we got to the snowfield, the rangers explained how to hunt for the worms (we even got a license from them so we would be legal).

Andy found 2 and I found 3 – we were so excited!!! We had to give them back because we only had a catch and release license. Here is a picture of the worms:

Here is some interesting information on the worms: They were first discovered in 1887 on Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska. They are in the same class as the common earthworm and can reach lengths of 1 inch and 1/32 of an inch in diameter. They eat red algae (which grow on the glacial snow packs) and on pollen grains that blow onto the snow pack. If the temperature increases to 40 F or above, they become lethargic and begin to disintegrate. If a human finger touches an ice worm, they die immediately. They move by using bristles located on their bodies. The ranger explained that it is almost like natural antifreeze. The ice worms have been found on numerous coastal glaciers from Washington to Alaska but no where else on earth.

The neat part is that scientists are now studying them to see how they can mimic the ice worm survival in cold so they can apply it to organ transplants and human tissue transplants – Amazing, isn’t it!

The both rangers were great – we learned more information on the area plants, geology, and glaciers. This valley is actually considered a temperate rain forest (which explains why the plants are so huge!). They get rain and wind almost every day and LOTS of snow in the winter.

As the safari ended, the fog and rain started to move in.


We stopped for supper at the Portage DayLodge (great halibut and salmon). And it began to rain and rain – so no campfire tonight - :-(

We have been very blessed in this area because the weather has been great to see the glaciers, mountains, and incredible scenery!