Jul 22, 2010 - Portage Glacier RV Park & Cabins

Today is Thursday, July 22 and we left Anchorage around 10:00am for the Portage Glacier RV & Motel Park. We were unable to get reservations but the website stated that reservations were not needed for RV’s because they had plenty of spaces. All of us were a bit skeptical, particularly after speaking to a fellow at a picture taking turnout on the Turnagain Arm. Marge struck up conversation with this guy and he was a very talkative person with a great deal of local knowledge as he worked for the “Tourist Information Bureau “ for years and his...

Jul 11, 2010 - Portage Glacier

At the head of Portage Valley, about fifty miles south of Anchorage, at the end of scenic Turnagain Arm, lies the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center. Living glaciers continue to carve the landscape and shape the life on the Chugach National Forest. The award-winning film, "Voices From the Ice" is shown hourly at the visitors center and provides a spectacular view of many glaciers and wildlife.

Aug 23, 2009 - August

During our last month in Anchorage, we tried to catch up with life and spend as much time with the family as possible. Our RV park had a demonstration on gold panning. We tried it, and had so much fun we bought cheep pans. Now we just have to find the gold! A mother moose and her baby made an early morning visit to the park. Our last weekend was spent back at Williwaw Campground in the Portage Valley with Michelle, David and Lucy. We had great family time. Michelle and I had fun picking fresh raspberries. Lucy was our constant companion. We...

Aug 9, 2009 - Portage, Alaska

Our route today: North on Alaska 9 Seward Highway at Tern Lake Junction the road name changes to Alaska 1 Seward Highway to the Whittier/Portage Glacier Access Road, Portage, Alaska Today we left “The Circus That Is Seward” and headed north with a destination of Portage planned. We easily found the Williwaw USFS Campground and selected Site #4 with a great view of Middle Glacier from the rear window of our 5er. The campground roads and campsites are all paved with lots of separation distance, trees, and vegetation between sites. After...

Aug 6, 2009 - Portage Valley

Tuesday was spent in Anchorage cleaning and doing laundry. It started raining about noon and kept up. We were lucky we had that great day the day before. Yesterday we backtracked to Portage. There is no town left as it was destroyed in the '64 quake when the town dropped about 8 feet. I planned to stay at Williwaw (a USFS campground), but it was cold and rainy so we stopped just before that at Portage Valley RV Park. They have power hookups so we can use our heater (I'm a wimp). We drove down to Williwaw - it is nice. Then we drove to...

Jul 27, 2009 - Portage Glacier

On the way back to Anchorage we stopped for a few days in the Portage Glacier area and Williwaw USFS Campground. This is a beautiful camp nestled at the base of 6 glaciers. We were just below the Middle Glacier. Our view had 20+ waterfalls and the blue ice of the glacier. The weather was a little drizzly while we were there but we were still able to hike up to and on Byron Glacier. This area also has a very interesting visitor center and salmon viewing area.

Jul 20, 2009 - Portage, AK

After leaving Seward we headed north towards Anchorage. We wanted to see another glacier and also take a train ride so we decided to stop at a USFS campground near the Portage glacier. Even though we are still dry camping this is a great campground, the sites are huge and paved and every site has a fire ring. Now if we could just get the rain to stop. It has been pouring for the last several days with no end in sight, the weekend maybe! On Wednesday morning we received a phone call telling us the train trip was cancelled because of the...

Jul 19, 2009 - Portage Glacier

On Friday the 17th we drove past Anchorage toward the Kenai Peninsula with hopes of stopping at a US Forest campground called Williwaw that we had heard so much about. What we didn’t expect was the beauty along the way. When we had visited Anchorage from Wasilla, we got a glimpse of the Chugach National Forest Mountain Range ahead, but the views all along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet were awesome. As we drove south east from Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm stretch of water, I could see how Captain Cook got confused. The mountains...

Feb 17, 2009 - Portage Glacier

Drove along Seward Highway - south of Anchorage - between mountains and Turnagain Arm towards the Portage Glacier. Views partly obscured by grey clouds and drizzle but still worth the trip - no beluga whales but did see ice climbers and family with snow shoes ... including their dog!

Jul 31, 2008 - Portage AK

We left Seward today, going north to Portage. The Portage Valley Cabins and RV Park is the only privately owned campground in the area, and it's great. It was windy and a little chilly today, so we drove through the wildlife conservation center, stopping to jump out for pictures, and hopping back in the car. We went over to Girdwood, and had a nice dinner before doing a little more sightseeing in the area. We joined others at the bonfire pavillion (of course we did s'mores) and ran into another couple from Bloomington, IL, that we have...

Jul 24, 2008 - Portage valley & lots of glaciers and waterfalls

More rain and cloudy but we packed up and headed to Portage. Dave says we might as well move, the freezer is full of fish. The road into Portage valley is nice even in the rain but they say to beware as this valley gets some horrible winds and storms because of its location just off the end of Turnagain arm which comes off Cook inlet and is a small flat valley between mountains. Sure is a pretty area. We found a good spot in Williwaw National Forest campground and if it wasn't so wet and cloudy we could see a glacier right from here....

Jul 17, 2008 - Portage Glacier & Giorgio & Cindy

Thur 7-17 We left Soldotna about noon and moved up to Portage Glacier, where we had made plans to meet Giorgio and Cindy for a couple of days. Giorgio is a friend we made in Cabo San Lucas two winters ago. We’ve had a good time with them and tomorrow their going down to Troy’s Friends to meet up with Steve. Steve is going to show Giorgio the ins and outs of Salmon fishing on the Kenia River. Spoke with Steve this evening and he and Sharon both caught their limit today. (3 each) Also had a call from Terri today and Lon caught his limit...