Sunshine in Whittier

This was my first time visiting Whittier, even though it's only an hour away from Anchorage. I was warned by others that it would be an underwhelming experience, but I think that is only if you are hoping for a bigger town. I was looking forward to hiking, and I heard that there are a few trails worth checking out. To get to Whittier, you have to take a train tunnel which is only wide enough for a single lane of cars! It's so narrow, the speed limit is 25mph. And that felt fast. The tunnel is open to traffic from Anchorage only once an hour, so you have to time it correctly to avoid waiting. The day in Anchorage started very gloomy and grey. As soon as we emerged from the tunnel into Prince William Sound, it was sunny and warm! And the bugs were incredible.

Because I had to pay a toll of $13 to pass through the tunnel, I was determined to hike all the trails and get as much out of my visit to Whittier as I possibly could. First stop was a hike to Portage Pass.

Once over the pass, you get a view of Portage glacier spilling in to the lake.

Water was flowing everywhere.

The lake was bug-free, and also had lots of icebergs.

The windward shore was covered in bug corpses. 

We thought we could reach the glacier if we forded this stream. After crossing one braid, we realized that there was a second braid of the stream which was running far deeper and faster. Without hiking poles, it was definitely not passable.

Compared with the cold of the glacial stream, the lake water and icebergs now felt pleasant. 

Photo credit: Dashiell Feierabend

Photo credit: Dashiell Feierabend

The bergs seem small but are actually heavy enough to be stable for climbing.

We hiked back upstream to get closer to a large waterfall.

We then hiked to Horsetail Falls, which was very lush and had a nice boardwalk for almost a mile. We were debating about whether to continue up the mountain ridge off-trail, then saw this black bear hanging out in the brush. We then decided it would be better to hike somewhere else, in case we surprised the bear on our return down the mountain.

Photo credit: Dashiell Feierabend

There is a trail that follows the coastline from the end of town, supposedly for up to 9 miles. The trail winds through the forest and becomes more and more like an animal footpath the farther you go. There were ferns and lots of lush green plants.

Photo credit: Dashiell Feierabend

The town of Whittier itself seems to be one large boatyard. We found one dorm-like residential building, which I think is where 99% of the population lives. The rest live in the hotel by the docks. For sightseeing, there is an old abandoned military barracks, a visitor center, and apparently an ice cream shop. 

Photo credit: Dashiell Feierabend

We made it to a beach around 9pm. I think we made the most of our time in Whittier. My only regret is we did not make it back to "town" in time to buy ice cream.

Mt. Alice Ridge

Every week I have been watching the weather forecast and waiting for a sunny day in the Seward area. Finally, after weeks of waiting, a perfect weekend window of sunshine appeared! Seward lies beneath sheer, jagged mountains, most of which are completely inaccessible. Mt. Alice is one of the larger peaks visible from town. Fortunately for hikers, Alice happens to have a steep ridgeline that you can follow up above treeline, but the rock near the peak is very flaky and unstable. It would take extraordinary weather (and guts!) to make it to the summit. 

This is a picture of the rotten rock that characterizes these mountains:

The trail starts at sea level, in mossy rainforest.

Then transitions to the subalpine hemlock zone, also know as the blueberry factory.

Looking ahead, the peak looms in the distance.

Looking back, Resurrection Bay glows tropical blue.

At higher elevations, we had continuous snowfields to climb. It was steep enough that we had to pick our way carefully, ramming our toes into the snowpack to make footholds. 

The peak of Alice going behind clouds.

Once you crest the ridge and get a view into the other valley, you can see a glacier! 

The summit ridge was making clouds on the north side.

A fuzzy view down through clouds.

View out towards the town of Seward.

Eagle River Nature Center

The first place I went hiking to test out my ankle was the Eagle River Nature Center (all photo credits Dash Feierabend). The trails there are good for an unsure walker like me because they are well maintained and there is not too much elevation change going up the valley. Even though the poplars and birch in the valley are fully leafed out, the alpine is still very brown. 

Horsetails were just popping up

Green, green, green, I can't remember ever seeing so much green!

The river has wide gravel bars with plenty of soft sand for wading. Definitely too cold to swim!

This is a new mushroom for me, the stalked scarlet cup.

We made it to Echo Bend!

     I liked the trails there so much that I even went back the next  
     weekend. It was overcast and threatening to rain, but the valley
         was sheltered from the bad weather in the mountains.

Devils club is starting to leaf out.

The river is still clear, but I wonder if it will get murky when glacial melt picks up later in the summer.

We went another mile past Echo Bend. The trail continues up the valley for many more miles before crossing Eagle River and climbing to Crow Pass. Some day this summer I hope to do the entire traverse, ending in Girdwood.

We found orchids! And some young fireweed.

Meadow grasses are starting to green up.

Hike success! I can now go at least 8 miles at a stretch.

The bunnies are getting bigger! I kept Polar Bear (top) and Bean (bottom) to stay. I will see if I can train them to do tricks.

Eklutna Lake

Now that I have my legs back, I can bike confidently on dirt trails. I took advantage of a hot sunny Saturday to bike the Eklutna Lake trail. It runs along the lake edge for 8 miles, then continues for another 4 miles up the river valley. Beyond that you have to ditch your bike as the trail traverses some narrow rock ledges above the glacial stream.

Eklutna Lake is the reservoir for the city of Anchorage's drinking water. It looks a little low now, but will probably fill up when glacial melt starts to increase.

There were several sheep up here, feeding in the most precarious places, as usual. While watching them, I saw rocks slide down the scree field across the river. I liked how their dust trails looked like smoke on the mountain.

When we started back, rain showers raked across the valley. We missed the rain by stalling near the inlet to the lake.

Bike-powered photography

The lake edge at the far end is bounded by a very good raspberry patch. I found that out the hard way.

The glacier is peeking out from between the mountains. It's very difficult to hike far enough back to get to the base of the glacier. It would require fording the river and then scrambling over slick rock and scree. I waded in at the river's edge (icing my sore feet!), and it seemed like the crossing would be really challenging because the flow is so high.

One last look at the lake before heading home. This is at approximately 9:30pm. I love the warm evening light! I would have stayed out here all night, but I ran out of food.