The Portage Glacier -- All it's Cracked Up to Be

A shot of the Portage Glacier, about an hour south of Anchorage.

Greetings from Anchorage, where I'm attending the 2008 Junior Olympics for cross country skiing.

We didn't see the skiers today, since it was a training day. Thanks to a tip from an old friend , Jan and Teresa Shoup and I went to the Portage Glacier today. The glacier is about an hour south of Anchorage.

The trip was just incredible. As you drive south out of Anchorage on the Seward Highway, the mountains and Cook Inlet converge and the highway follows the water with mountains on either side. There are several turn-offs that are ideal for picture taking. The mountains aren't as large and craggy as the Rockies, nor rolling and rounded like the Appalachians. They jut up from the Earth, but seem sort of squat.

This same type of terrain surrounds Anchorage, but the city sits in sort of a coastal plain. As you head south and east, that plain disappears and the mountains sometimes seem to rise right out of the inlet. We saw a number of spots where avalanches had occurred, ending right beside the highway.

We arrived at the visitor's center at the glacier only to find it closed (the visitor's center, that is. I don't think the glacier keeps regular hours). However, we had a map and our skis in the Alaska compact rental car (i.e full cab Silverado).

We drove out of the visitor's center parking lot and noticed a spot that had been plowed -- sort of an indent from the road that would fit 2-3 cars. It looked like a trailhead and we figured, what the heck. Came all this way. Brought the skis. Why not?

The first 200-300 meters were pretty rough -- large chunks of iced up snow covered with a thin layer of power. After that, though, it was smooth and the skiing was just like spring crust skiing in the Keweenaw. What a treat. (BTW -- the wax of the day was two-day-old klister covered by Swix Violet).

It turns out that it was a road that is closed in the winter. We skied back a couple of miles and ended up at the lake fed by Portage Glacier. The road ended at a boat dock where you can take an excursion to the glacier. It was closed. I wanted to ski out on the lake and to the glacier, but was outvoted. Since I had the car keys, they insisted.

As you'll see on the photos, a stop sign was almost buried -- there was easily six feet of base. Way, way, way more snow than at Kincaid Park. And the views were spectacular -- with the mountains and some blue sky and some fog all happening at the same time. That's the news for today. Back to racing tomorrow. Let's hope for some good performances by the GLD skiers.

Here are some shots of the mountains and glacier around Portage Lake.







These shots are from the drive along Cook Inlet south of Anchorage and heading toward Girdwood.