Living the Dream...: Monday, July 29, 2013 (Williwaw Campground, Chugach National Forest, Portage Lake, Alaska)

Wow! I slept in until 7:30 this morning...that doesn't happen very often! Must be the fresh Alaska air! We had our usual start to the day...I also downloaded pictures so Steve could edit them. Digital cameras are great...but you tend to take so many pictures! Steve goes through them and deletes lots.

While I was doing dishes and cleaning up, Steve offloaded our bicycles...we thought we would go for a ride today. The Blue Ice Trail runs 5 miles between the visitors center and Moosehead Flats, going past our campground...with a few spurs off of it.

We start by riding to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center to take a look at the displays since we hadn't done that yet. Along the way there are man-made ponds where gravel companies have been allowed in the park. The holes made by them fill with water...and as I understand from speaking to the Ranger on our hike yesterday that they are fertilizing the ponds with natural vegetation.

(Click on picture)

The fireweed all through Alaska (and the Yukon) has been stunning...

We arrived at the center, paid our admission and started our tour...

Steve trying out a kayak...we might just have to try it out for real sometime...

There was a very cool walkway out to view the lake and surrounding mountains and glaciers...

We finished our wandering around the center and then headed off. This is a view of the center...

We took another trail that lead to more stunning scenery...

This sign explains more about the gravel companies and the fish habitat in the ponds that are made by the gravel extraction...

That trail connected to the Trail of Blue Ice, right by our campground, so we stopped back at the trailer to replenish our water, have a snack and then we carried on our way going north along the trail. There were lots of boardwalk sections...

I can't remember the name of this lake but it was a nice little day use spot. A fellow offered to take our picture...shortly after that a group of four young women arrived with cameras. They were commissioned by the US Forest Service to do a short documentary on the Portage Valley and asked if they could interview us. They set up their video camera and asked us a bunch of questions about our activities here in the valley...don't know if any of it will be used, but you never know, we could be in a documentary promoting the Portage Valley in Alaska!