Portage Valley

This afternoon we headed out for a couple of hours driving around the Portage Valley.  Our first stop was the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center where we saw this glacial ice floating in front of the building.  Later in the afternoon, a ranger giving a talk on glaciers informed us that the depth of this floating piece of ice is probably about 30’ deep.

We went through the museum and watched a film called Voices from the Ice.  It starts off showing and including the noise of several glacier calvings and was very impressive.

This last photo is one Ken took of the glacier situated behind our campground.

This is our last day in the Portage Valley and tomorrow we will drive to Seward to stay through the 4th of July.  The Last Frontier Gang including  Sharon and Don, Dennis and Carol, and Marilyn and Larry will be headed north from Seward tomorrow so we’re likely to pass them on our way there.  They’re at a point where they’ll be getting way ahead of us in their travels as they all need to be at Escapade at the end of August and we don’t need to be crossing into the lower 48 until after Labor Day weekend.

Doing Our Part to Help Anchorage’s Economy

With a rainy day predicted for today, we decided to drive to Anchorage to stock up on groceries and look into getting a new camera to replace mine since it has been going through batteries and just falling down on it’s job.  From the time we started our trip driving through Canada and now in Alaska, it’s been difficult to purchase bread that is not going dry and stale.  So, our first stop was The Great Harvest Bread Company where we picked up a couple of loaves High 5 Fiber Bread.  They have several varieties available for sampling when you walk into the store along with butter to spread on the bread.  We also purchased a couple of berry muffins for Ken to try out for a change of pace in his breakfast.  From there, we drove back south to the Best Buy where it was time find a replacement for my camera.  Our friend Sharon had recently purchased a new Canon Powershot SX130IS, but it didn’t have the viewfinder that I depend on so much.  Ken was looking around and found this Fujifilm Finepix S2950 with a 18x optical zoom that was the same size as my old camera so we chose that one.

I’ve been looking into ebook readers for a long time.  I have the Kindle and Nook installed on both my PC and Droid phone, but just couldn’t decide which one I really wanted.  After doing some research, it looked like the Kindle had the better battery life, and it would have book loaning and library downloads available in the future.

I also chose a leather cover with light for the Kindle.

Ken wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant for lunch, but the ones our Garmin found seemed to be closed and we found a nearby Red Robin which is always good.  From there we picked up our groceries at Walmart and headed back to the RV.  It was still early enough that we decided to get our laundry done in Girdwood today so that we wouldn’t have to waste half the day tomorrow getting that chore completed.  The weather is looking better for tomorrow so we may be able to do some more exploring in this area.  Stay tuned.

A Busy Tourist Day

This had to be the best weather day we’ve had in Alaska so far with blue skies and temperatures reaching into the mid 60’s.  We started out leaving our campground at Quartz Creek and after dumping the black and adding to the fresh water we were on the road.  We drove a little less than 60 miles to Willawaw USFS Campground near Portage and on the road to Whittier, Alaska.  We got set up, packed a lunch and drove to take the cruise to Portage Glacier using one of our Alaska Toursaver coupons.  We timed it just right for the 12:00pm cruise to the glacier.  The entire tour was about an hour and here are a few photos from our tour.

The weather was still good, so we decided to drive on up to Girdwood to use another Alaska Toursaver coupon taking the Alyeska Tram.  As we got out to the highway, we saw this Alaska Railroad passenger train heading southwest.

From the top of the tram, we looked down at the Alyeska Hotel.

We had a fantastic view of Turnagain Arm.

And here’s a photo of two of the trams passing at midpoint in the ride.

With the beautiful weather today, Alyeska Resort seemed to be a popular destination for parasailing.  These next 4 photos show a guide taking a willing participant down the hill by air.

We thought this was an interesting home along the Alyeska Highway.

And we even found a store with a name that is probably very appropriate.

Getting back to the Portage area, it was still early enough that we decided to drive into Whittier.  The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is a toll road ($12 for a car or pickup roundtrip) to Whittier that uses a computerized traffic control system.  The speed limit is 25 mph and it takes almost 7 minutes to drive through the tunnel.  It is the longest highway tunnel and longest combined highway/railroad tunnel in North America at 13,200 feet.  The next photo shows the approach to the tunnel.

And in this picture, we’re about to exit the tunnel.

Whittier was created by the U.S. Army during World War II.  It was a port and petroleum delivering center tied to bases further north via the Alaska Railroad and later by a pipeline.

The 14 story Begich Towers was formerly the Hodge Building.  It is now housing for more than half of Whittier’s population and the city offices.  At one time it was used by the U.S. Army for family housing and civilian bachelor quarters.

The Buckner Building was finished in 1953 and was once the largest building in Alaska and called the “city under one roof.”  Since military activity has ceased, Whittier relies on the fishing industry and tourism.

Whew!!  I’m worn out going over all that again and Ken is falling asleep in his chair.  That was a lot to do in one day.  Rain is predicted for tomorrow, so we’re talking about a day trip to Anchorage to do some shopping.

 

Bears, Views, Gulls and Girls

We did the usual morning routine and packed our lunch and headed to Ian’s campsite on the Russian River.  We sat around and visited for quite a while and then Ian and the girls planned on a hike to the Russian River Falls which is about 5 miles.  Opting not to do that, we decided to take a loop road off the Sterling Highway on Skilak Lake Road.  After turning off the highway, we saw this black bear at the side of the road.

The next three photos are various view shots we took while driving this road.  The Milepost gave us the impression that the road would travel along the lake giving us spectacular views the entire route.  That was not the case, but we made several stops that did have some great views.

When we returned to the campground, Ian and family were still out on there hike so we walked down to the river and walked that trail for a while.  When the fishing was good with a run a couple of days ago, people clean their fish down at the river and throw what’s left into the faster moving current.  A seagull is enjoying it’s meal on the carcass.

We continued on down the river to a spot where some people told us there had been a bear there in the last hour.  Ken got this great series of photos of the bear coming out of the brush, going into the river to get the remainders of a salmon, then take it back into the brush to feed it’s cubs.

After Ken returned back to the campsite from watching the bear, Ian and the girls returned to camp from their hike.  Jennifer was a bit hungry from all that exercise.

Summer takes time to smile for the camera.

And Corey (the girl who plays with fire) also had time for a quick smile.

We headed back to our campground for dinner and relaxing.  Tomorrow we will be headed to Portage to tour that area as well as Whittier, Girdwood, and possibly a trip into Anchorage to stock up on some groceries.

A Bad Day of Fishing Beats a Good Day of Working

We spent a good portion of the day with Ian and his family and friends at the Russian River campground.  Tyler and his sister Tara and a couple of other friends showed up to do some fishing.  They’re getting set up to try some fishing while the rest of the group is just sitting on the bank.

Summer is hamming it up for the camera.

Tara.

Tyler and Tara are looking pretty serious about their fishing.

Ian is assisting a couple of the kids back across the river.

In the time we were there, no fish were caught.  Hopefully there was some better fishing later in the evening.

Fishing on the Russian River

After breakfast and our internet surfing in the morning, I packed a lunch and we headed to Ian’s campground on the Russian River.  Ian told us the fishing was just not any good, so we sat around and visited with the family and friends.  After lunch, some of the kids wanted to walk down to the river and fish, so we went down there to watch for a while.  Not too much was going on, so we walked back up to the campground to visit again.  Around 4pm one of the kids walked up and said the fish were running, so we walked back down to take a look.  It was quiet for a while, but soon someone across the river caught a fish, and the action started.  Ian went up to camp to get his gear and also brought a pole down for Ken.  Here are a few photos from the day.

During the down times, the kids (and some of the big kids) drove around the campground on this mini motorcycle.  Here is Ashley with his daughter Michaela.

From Ian’s campsite, we walk to the Russian River down this flight of stairs.

Once down at the river, a portion of the trail is covered with rubber mats to help prevent erosion from the heavy use.

Ian is getting one of the kids set up for fishing and Jennifer is on the right.

Ken is standing on a rock to fish.

In about the middle of this photo, Ian has a fish on his line.

Ashley’s first catch of the day.

Ian has two fish on his stringer.

Ian is assisting Jennifer.

Ashley and Ian are helping two of the kids while Jennifer is pulling in a fish.

After work, Kimber drove out for the evening bringing Tyler and Grant with her.  Tyler is bringing a fish in here and it looks like Ian is doing his magic fish dance.

Grant wanted to wade across the river but settled for standing in the water near shore with Kimber getting him started.

Before we knew it, the time was 8:30pm and time to get back to our campground to let the generator run before quiet hours.