WiLDFILLY's ALASKA ! Tuesday

*Tuesday*
found us heading south again. We had a couple hours to burn
before catching the Whittier Shuttle to Prince William Sound,
so first we went to see the Portage Glacier.
Byron Glacier is nearby, but we weren't in the mood for a
*"healthy hike", LOL and I had just walked on Matanuska**
Glacier the day before.
	Portage Glacier

Portage Lake itself was a cold, windswept body of water, full
of floating chunks of ice.
Portage Lake

*We didn't go into the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center, but it's said*
to be very informative on the history of the Portage area and its
surrounding glaciers.

Just a mile south of where we eventually caught the Whittier
*Shuttle (train), we stopped by Big Game Alaska.*

WHOA !! What's THIS ?

Big Game Alaska opened to the public in 1993, and cares for
injured and orphaned wildlife, rehabilitating them and
returning to the wild those it can.
Note, this was the ONLY place we saw real-live mooses in
Alaska, LOL*

C'mon, Let's PLAY !!

	I sure ticked off this bad boy --
	Dunno if I got too close to his hay or if he thought I was gonna give his girlfriend some tips on keeping him in line !
	He charged with every intention of putting that wicked looking rack up my ..... nose. Fancy footwork kept me just out of his reach, laughing !

From there,
it was back to the train station and the Whittier Shuttle. We
were one of the last people over many years to take this very
interesting train ride, as the Alaska Railroad terminated this
line with the opening of the 2.5 mile Whittier tunnel through
the mountainside to vehicle traffic on June 7, 2000.
*View from the train*......
	*First tunnel from Portage to Whittier*

In Whittier, we boarded our boat......a nice one, brand new last
year. This was the beginning of 5 1/2 hours of non-stop "oohs"
and "ahhhhs", maniacal swapping back & forth between three
cameras -- 35 mm, digital cam & video cam -- and a lunch on
board that would put most hotels to shame. Big cheers for
Prince William Sound Cruises & Tours !!
We saw: A rookery, the world's largest salmon hatchery, a bald
eagle in her nest, a bear, numerous glaciers, otters, little
dolphins (Dall's Porpoise) that looked like mini-killer whales,
*mountain goats, and simply spectacular* scenery, (but no meese, grrrrrrrrr.)**
I'm going to let the pictures show the highlights of our trip.....



*Coxe, Columbia & Cascade Glaciers of Barry Arm*
	*BRRRR !! This water is COLD !!*
*Salmon Corrals*

*Esther Passage*

*Waterfall at rookery, note -- white specks are the birds*

WHEW !! What a day !! Numbed by both the awesome sights
we'd seen, and the cold breeze off Prince William Sound, we got
back on the train, drove back to our hotel & rested up for yet
another day of non-stop adventures !

Join us on our journey !
By Day	By Location
	Anchorage
Sunday	Matanuska Glacier
Monday	Portage Glacier
Tuesday	Big Game Alaska
Wednesday	Whittier
Thursday	Prince William Sound
Friday	Kenai Peninsula
	Trapper Creek
Moose	Alaska Facts
Denali	Chugach Range
Approximate Driving Distances

COOL Alaska links
AWARDS

Portage Glacier

is what is known as a hanging glacier, meaning it no longer

reaches its lake, having retreated some ways up Portage

Valley. You can't see the glacier and it's lake from the same

place, you need to drive on up around a bend to see Portage

Glacier.

Portage

itself used to be a town, before the 1964 earthquake. The

site then was a vehicle loading area that connected to the

Alaska Marine Highway via the Whittier Shuttle. With the

closing of that route by the Alaska Railroad, its future is now

uncertain.

Portage Creek

is the main source for the silt and mud flats of the Turnagin

Arm, washing down silt from the glacier to the shores.

Visitors are advised NOT to venture onto the flats because of

quicksand and bore tides.

Whittier

was a port created by the US Army during WWII, but is now

mainly a commercial fishing center, starting point for

many tourists, and a main connection from the Alaska Marine

Highway to points inland, such as from Valdez to Anchorage.

Prince William Sound

is the northern Gulf of Alaska. It is home to a multitude of

glaciers, Dall Sheep, Mountain Goats, whales, otters, bald

eagles, sea birds, porpoise, salmon, crab and halibut, to name

a FEW species of its native wildlife !

Find a broken link? Have comments or suggestions?

Feel free to e-mail the webmaster .

Design by