Tuesday | |
found us heading south again. We had a couple hours to burn | |
before catching the Whittier Shuttle to Prince William Sound, | |
so first we went to see the Portage Glacier. | |
Byron Glacier is nearby, but we weren't in the mood for a | |
"healthy hike", LOL* and I had just walked on Matanuska | |
Glacier
the day before.
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Portage Glacier |
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Portage Lake itself was a cold, windswept body of water, full | |
of floating chunks of ice. | |
Portage Lake |
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We didn't go into the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center, but it's said | |
to be very informative on the history of the Portage area and its | |
surrounding glaciers. | |
Just a mile south of where we eventually caught the Whittier | |
Shuttle
(train), we stopped by Big Game Alaska.
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WHOA !! What's THIS ? |
Big Game Alaska opened to the public in 1993, and cares for | |
injured and orphaned wildlife, rehabilitating them and | |
returning to the wild those it can. | |
Note, this was the ONLY place we saw real-live mooses in | |
Alaska, LOL* | |
C'mon, Let's PLAY !!
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I sure ticked off this bad boy -- | |
Dunno if I got too close to his hay or if he thought I was gonna give his girlfriend some tips on keeping him in line ! | |
He charged with every intention of putting that wicked looking rack up my ..... nose. Fancy footwork kept me just out of his reach, laughing ! | |
From there, | |
it was back to the train station and the Whittier Shuttle. We | |
were one of the last people over many years to take this very | |
interesting train ride, as the Alaska Railroad terminated this | |
line with the opening of the 2.5 mile Whittier tunnel through | |
the
mountainside
to vehicle traffic on June 7, 2000.
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View from the train...... |
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First tunnel from Portage to Whittier | |
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In Whittier, we boarded our boat......a nice one, brand new last | |
year. This was the beginning of 5 1/2 hours of non-stop "oohs" | |
and "ahhhhs", maniacal swapping back & forth between three | |
cameras -- 35 mm, digital cam & video cam -- and a lunch on | |
board that would put most hotels to shame. Big cheers for |
|
Prince
William Sound Cruises & Tours !!
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We saw: A rookery, the world's largest salmon hatchery, a bald | |
eagle in her nest, a bear, numerous glaciers, otters, little | |
dolphins (Dall's Porpoise) that looked like mini-killer whales, | |
mountain goats, and
simply spectacular scenery, (but no meese, grrrrrrrrr.)
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I'm
going to let the pictures show the highlights of our trip.....
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Coxe, Columbia & Cascade Glaciers of Barry Arm
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BRRRR !! This water is COLD !! | |
Salmon Corrals |
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Esther
Passage
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Waterfall at rookery, note -- white specks are the birds
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WHEW !! What a day !! Numbed by both the awesome sights | |
we'd seen, and the cold breeze off Prince William Sound, we got | |
back on the train, drove back to our hotel & rested up for yet | |
another day of non-stop adventures ! | |
Join
us on our journey !
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|
By Day | By Location |
Sunday | Matanuska Glacier |
Monday | Portage Glacier |
Tuesday | Big Game Alaska |
Wednesday | Whittier |
Thursday | Prince William Sound |
Friday | Kenai Peninsula |
Trapper Creek | |
Alaska Facts | |
Denali | Chugach Range |
Approximate Driving Distances | |
COOL Alaska links | |
AWARDS |
Portage Glacier |
is what is known as a hanging glacier, meaning it no longer |
reaches its lake, having retreated some ways up Portage |
Valley. You can't see the glacier and it's lake from the same |
place, you need to drive on up around a bend to see Portage |
Glacier. |
Portage |
itself used to be a town, before the 1964 earthquake. The |
site then was a vehicle loading area that connected to the |
Alaska Marine Highway via the Whittier Shuttle. With the |
closing of that route by the Alaska Railroad, its future is now |
uncertain. |
Portage Creek |
is the main source for the silt and mud flats of the Turnagin |
Arm, washing down silt from the glacier to the shores. |
Visitors are advised NOT to venture onto the flats because of |
quicksand and bore tides. |
Whittier |
was a port created by the US Army during WWII, but is now |
mainly a commercial fishing center, starting point for |
many tourists, and a main connection from the Alaska Marine |
Highway to points inland, such as from Valdez to Anchorage. |
Prince William Sound |
is the northern Gulf of Alaska. It is home to a multitude of |
glaciers, Dall Sheep, Mountain Goats, whales, otters, bald |
eagles, sea birds, porpoise, salmon, crab and halibut, to name |
a FEW species of its native wildlife ! |
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