Driving south on Seward Hwy, we planned to cover Portage Valley on day 3. The valley is known for its beautiful and scenic routes. The highway with the Turnagain Arm coast on one side and the railroad track on the other side is reminiscent of the movies especially when a train is also chugging along.
Mt Alyeska Resort & Tram
- Access: Take the highway and look for signs to Girdwood, the home of Alyeska Resort. At the Tesoro Gas Station, take a left-hand turn and follow the Alyeska Highway for three miles. You will come to a "T" intersection - turn left and go one mile for The Hotel Alyeska. At the "T", turn right for Alyeska Resort's Daylodge and base area.
Tram is a seven-minute scenic ride from The Hotel Alyeska to 2,300 ft in elevation and the top of Mt. Alyeska. From the Tram & top one has spectacular views in all directions – including views of the Turnagain Arm. There are also trails to reach the top.
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| Alyeska Resort from atop Mt. Alyeska |
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| Turnagain arm from tram, midway to top |
Spencer Glacier & Grandview Whistle Stop
There is only 1 track and route from Anchorage to Seward and it is very scenic. It is one long path from Anchorage-Portage-Whittier-Portage-Spencer-Grandview-...-Seward. The "Glacier Discovery Train" only does the roundtrip to Grandview. Since we had other activities planned for the day, we drove to Portage and boarded the train there (although there is little difference in price).
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| Chugach Explorer - Glacier Discovery |
After the 2nd Portage stop, the train heads south into the Kenai Mountains. The next stop is the Spencer Glacier Whistle Stop, accessible through a unique partnership with the Chugach National Forest Service. The adventure begins here and you can only get there by train. You can either go hiking or rafting. Take a guided 2.6 mile round trip hike with a Forest Service interpreter, or for the more adventurous types, take a self-guided 6.8 mile round trip hike to the face of Spencer Glacier. Or, take a guided Rafting/paddling on the Spencer river.
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| Spencer Glacier |
The train continues south to Grandview through some of the most breathtaking landscapes along the entire railbelt. If you just need a day of relaxation and fabulous scenery, this is the segment - lakes, creeks, rivers, waterfalls, wildlife and ofcourse glaciers. When the train reaches Grandview, after a peek at Trail Glacier, it reverses direction to the Spencer Whistle Stop, picks up hikers, bikers and canoers, then makes a quick stop downriver to pick up rafters. Back to portage.
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| Spencer - to - Grandview scenic views | |
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| Train side view |
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| Train chaiya-chaiya top view |
Begich Boggs Visitor Center
This small visitor center ended up being a decent surprise for us. The nearby views are nice, with glacier chunks floating by in the portage lake.
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| Glacier ice floating on Portage lake |
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Apparently, the portage glacier has receded quite a lot and is now present only the southeast tip of the lake. From this vantage point, we didnt have a good view of the glacier. We missed watching the glacier movie "Voices from the Ice". The Ptarmigan cruise is cheap, but with 2 glacier cruises planned, we didn't plan for another glacier cruise.
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| Begich Boggs Visitor Center (front view) |
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BBVC is built on the terminal moraine left behind by Portage glacier !!
Byron Glacier
- Access: Drive south from Anchorage for approximately 50 miles. Turn left on Portage Glacier Road and drive 6 miles to the trailhead on the right side of the road (past the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center). The road continues to a boat dock for summer tours of Portage Lake. Parking is free.
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| Byron Glacier Trailhead |
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This trail is a great, easy little trail with nice scenery. The trail was in good condition and popular for humans and mosquitoes. It takes you along a rushing glacier river into a steep glacier valley to basically the base of Byron Glacier. If you are adventurous you can ignore the "End of Trail" sign and proceed to hike on the glacier rock and ice - the black rock surface is actually solid ice!
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| Byron Glacier (up close) |
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| View of Portage Lake from Bryon Glacier |
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The forest is lush with ferns for a serene beginning to the hike. Byron Creek is a cascading, whitewater, glacial creek. Navigating on the rocks of the side and terminal moraines can be a challenge. Portage Lake and Valley can be seen looking north from the trail. Trail is very flat. First half of trail to Byron Glacier viewpoint is well maintained, with a wide footpath and brush cleared away from trail. Second half becomes rocky with small stream crossings some standing water. There was company and we decided to hike up further "on" the glacier.
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| On Byron Glacier |
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| Byron wall |
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