Alaska Day 4: Portage Glacier

In our room at the Airbnb in Anchorage, I awoke to find a text from a neighbor in Oregon alerting us to an 8.2 earthquake in the Aleutians and a subsequent tsunami warning that caused evacuation of the Homer Spit where we will be tomorrow. Good start to any day! No need to fear; we felt nothing in Anchorage, which, incidentally, was severely maimed by a 9.2 earthquake back in 1964. I remember seeing the photos of that horrendous damage.

As of bedtime last night, we were waffling about which of two hikes near Portage Lake to take. The first I had read about online, a highly recommended 10-mile creek bottom stroll along Portage Creek, starting at the Begich Boggs Visitors Center on the shores of Portage Lake. The second we heard about from a couple of locals who flew with us from Portland, a shorter but more scenic hike up to Portage Pass and down the other side to Portage Lake at the foot of Portage Glacier.

The plan was to hike in the morning and then visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in the afternoon as we headed back to Anchorage. Ann slept really poorly last evening so I let her sleep in and that dictated that we take the shorter of the two hikes, the Portage Pass hike. In retrospect, that was a great decision and I am sure that the people who recommended the Portage Pass hike to us would be pleased.

The out-and-back hike from the Visitors Center along Portage Creek would have no doubt been beautiful especially because of the creek's brilliant aquamarine-colored water from glacial silt. Still, a flat walk along even the most beautiful creek cannot compare with climbing to Portage Pass and descending beyond it to the foot of Portage Glacier. This would prove to be my favorite hike in Alaska.

The weather started off a bit iffy in the early morning with rain spitting as we left the house where we were staying. The rain would soon clear off but it would remain gray all morning. After putting gas in the rental car, we headed a block down to Kaladi Brothers, a local coffee chain that Ann had found on the internet. We sought a decent coffee house in south Anchorage because were heading south today along the length of Turnagain Arm to Portage and did not want to make the schlep to midtown to Black Cup Coffee.

As I was ordering my black drip coffee, I spied breakfast burritos in a display case next to the register, so I ordered one. The barista asked “veggie or regular sausage” which I interpreted as meaning I had a choice of regular or soy protein sausage. I answered “regular” twice until she really enunciated through her mask on the third question. Until everyone is wearing masks, you just don't realize how much you depend on lip reading to parse what people are saying.

I finally heard her query of “veggie or reindeer sausage?” Reindeer is apparently a big thing here. I’ve had it before and I prefer elk by a huge margin. BTW, reindeer is just the name for domesticated, farmed caribou. Reindeer sausage is nothing special, but I enjoyed my burrito. It could have been almost any meat.

From reading on the internet, I knew that after turning off the main highway onto Portage Glacier Road, the trailhead was just at the other end of a tunnel. But I had no idea that we were going to experience the marvel of engineering that is the Whittier Tunnel, formally known as the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. At 2.5 miles, it happens to be the longest highway tunnel in North America. 

On approach, we saw signs talking about tolls, our first sign that this was no ordinary tunnel. Arriving at the tollbooth, I handed my credit card to the toll taker just as she said to me, "You're lucky. The tunnel is still open." Still open? WTF? Is it prone to being blocked by rockslide or closed for maintenance?

As we drove beyond the toll booth and followed the signage and lane markers, her comment would start to make sense to me. From the toll booth situated to the right of the tunnel, we swung left and aligned ourselves with the one-lane tunnel opening. Train tracks swung in from our left towards the opening, merging with the road that we were on. Soon enough we were driving on top of the train tracks into the tunnel.

The one-lane tunnel must be shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions and the tunnel must be aired out in between trips (with jet turbine ventilation, no less!). This unique design that enables a single lane of traffic to travel directly over the railroad track saved tens of millions of dollars over the cost of constructing a new tunnel.

On the other side of the tunnel, we saw cars lined up waiting to head the opposite direction. More about this later on our return trip.

The signs for our parking and trail head were just beyond the tunnel on the right. After carefully navigating the vast maze of car-eating potholes in the dirt track, we parked within a few yards of the trail head. There were a quite a few cars when we arrived and there would be a lot more we returned; this is a popular trail. Or rather, it is a popular walk up to the pass and back. Far fewer people went the extra distance on the other side to walk down to Portage Lake and Portage Glacier. In fact, we would be alone on the beach of Portage Lake, a blessed relief after dealing with rambunctious children on the climb up.

From roughly sea level, the trail climbs straight and up for a mile, steeply at times, to the pass 800 feet above. The trail ascends through a canyon whose steep sides clearly delineate the trail which runs roughly east west. At the foot (eastern end where we parked) of the trail is Passage Canal, a bay that connects the deep water port of Whittier to Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.

In the pass between tall mountains to the north and south, an ancient glacier has scoured out a few depressions which now hold kettle ponds. In the pass at the trail's highest point, a large flat-topped rock formation climbs another 30 feet or so in elevation above the trail. The top of this formation contains a couple more picturesque ponds and the views from up there are amazing.

Starting to Climb, Passage Canal Behind
Town of Whittier to the Right, Just off Camera

Flat-Topped Rock Formations at Top of Portage Pass

Fireweed and Heuchera Trailside

Steep Canyon Walls to the South

Goatsbeard, Aruncus dioicus

Pink Wintergreen, Pyrola asarifolia

In the pass, looking west are views of Portage Glacier a couple miles further west. At this point, although a few kettle ponds are visible, Portage Lake at the foot of the glacier is hidden behind the trees. Looking back east from the rocks at the top of the pass, the views of Passage Canal are pretty astounding.

First View of Portage Glacier from Portage Pass

Portage Glacier from Rocks Above Portage Pass

Looking East, Kettle Pond with Passage Canal Beyond

Looking West Atop Rock Formations

Kettle Pond, Portage Glacier Behind

Shepherd Swimming in Kettle Pond

Heading west and downhill from Portage Pass, Portage Glacier slowly revealed itself. At first, a shallow lake called Divide Lake appeared and then as we made our way through increasingly thicker willows hemming in the trail, we finally got our first view of Portage Lake at the foot of the glacier.

Divide Lake in Portage Pass; Portage Glacier Beyond

Noisy Snowmelt Waterfall

First View of Portage Lake (in front of ice cave)

First View of Entire Snout of Portage Glacier

The Ice Cave (probably a river under the glacier)

Is That a Bear in the Willows?

As the willows hemmed in the trail to almost the point of claustrophobia (who doesn't love to be bushwhacking willows in bear country?), we heard a huge thunderclap coming from the lake as an iceberg calved. When we got our next clear view of the lake, perhaps a minute later, there was a bit more ice in the water, but no huge iceberg to be seen.

Site of Calving; We Heard it but Missed it

Trail Parallels a Stream Near the Beach

Looking for American Dippers; None Seen

Stunning Yellow Monkey Flower, Mimulus guttatus, and Fireweed

Iceberg in Portage Lake

All Alone on Portage Lake Beach

The final few hundred yards of the trail down to the lake parallel a noisy little stream. As the willows gave way to more open space, large stands of yellow monkey flower and fireweed, both in full bloom, lined the sides of the creek, one of the more stunning stands of wildflowers that we would see.

After having to deal with a lot of kids and unruly parents climbing up to the pass, the walk down the back side past Divide Lake and to Portage Lake was decidedly calm and refreshingly serene. It was incredibly amazing to be the only people on the shores of Portage Lake, to have the stunning vista replete with floating icebergs to ourselves. The walk down from the pass was so worth it.

A couple of hikers had mentioned to us that the tunnel operates on a schedule and if we were to miss the opening in the direction from Whittier back to Portage, we would be in for a very long wait. As we climbed back from the lake into the pass, we started once again to get cell signal and I could check the schedule. It would be tight, but if we booked it, we could get the mile down the hill and to the car in 15 minutes. That would perhaps allow us to get through without delay.

Hiking down the hill towards the tunnel opening, we could see the cars piling up at the entrance and we could hear a train idling, waiting to go through. We did in fact get down the hill in fifteen minutes, yet that did us no good. Being on the wrong side of the train tracks, we had to wait for the long Alaska Railroad freight train to pull through before we could get on the highway and back to the toll plaza.

Freight trains are the backbone of the distribution system in Alaska and this train went through carrying everything in the world on flat cars, from RVs to backhoes, to building materials and boats. Whittier is a busy port receiving all manner of goods destined for all over interior Alaska.

Once the train passed through, we pulled into the waiting area for the tunnel and it was just like waiting to load a ferry anywhere in the world. Traffic stacked up in lane after lane and people began to get out of their vehicles and wander about. Clearly, we wouldn't be going through the tunnel right after the train. It was only later that evening that I read that they must vent the diesel exhaust out of the tunnel before allowing vehicles through. 

Waiting to Enter Tunnel

While the ARR Glacier Discovery passenger train operates on a regular schedule during its operating season, freight trains have a more random schedule and appear to have priority at the tunnel over vehicular traffic. Moreover, once one of these freight train goes through, the vehicular traffic schedule for the rest of the day seems to be null and void. While we had the great fortune to arrive on the Bear Valley side (the Portage side) while the tunnel was open in the Whittier direction, the return trip after the train saw us wait 40 minutes, despite being in line at precisely the scheduled opening hour.

We finally got moving through the tunnel at the 25mph speed limit and once out the other side, we continued on to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It sits at the junction of the main highway (Seward Highway) and Portage Glacier Road, which goes through the tunnel. We passed the center just before we turned off Seward Highway, so there was no mystery how to get there.