It is hard to believe today was the last long car trip of our Alaska adventure. At 11:45am, we left for the Alyeska ski resort in Girdwood, Alaska. Alyeska Resort is 1 hour 15 minutes south from Eagle River on the two lane Seward Highway. The road is bordered on one side by the Chugach National Forest and the other by Turnagain Arm. A truly beautiful drive; unless you find the avalanche netting disconcerting.
There are plenty of turnouts along the way to take photos, watch for beluga whales or let campers, RVs and motorhomes pull over to get out of traffic. During the summer there are lots of visitors using Alaska’s two lane roads: the law is if you have more than 5 vehicles behind you, use the turnout.
Our plan was to arrive at the 4 Star Hotel Alyeska and take the tram to the top of the mountain where we would eat lunch. It was all about the view! It worked perfectly except for the low cloud cover obscuring the view.
At 1:15pm we were on the tram gliding up 2,300 ft. to the top of Mt. Alyeska - a 4 minute scenic ride. We ate lunch and waited for the cloud cover to lift. There were plenty of signs warning hikers about bears and being respectful of wildlife. It didn’t seem to deter anyone and we watched from on high while hikers fearlessly trudged up and down the trails.
Just in time the clouds lifted a little and we had superb views of the surrounding area on the tram ride down. Back on solid ground, we stopped in the resort gift shop and hugged the stuffed bear. Because - why not?
Next stop Portage Glacier and the Begich Boggs Visitor Center. Portage Glacier is 44 minutes from Alyeska. The Portage Glacier Access Road winds about five miles from the highway past a series of campgrounds to the end of the road and the Begich Boggs Visitor Center. It is possible to take a boat tour of Portage Lake to get an up close view of Portage Glacier.
We choose to forgo the boat tour and view the visitor center exhibits. The center is staffed by knowledgeable Forest Service interpreters. Most impressive was a short film on the retreating Portage Glacier and the former town of Portage destroyed by the earthquake of 1964.
Time to return to Eagle River, but we could not resist stopping along the way for ice cream. It has been claimed that Alaska consumes more ice cream per capita than any other state in the country. Maybe it is because of the long, sunny summer days. Whatever the reason - it was delicious and just the thing to cap off the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment