The Blue Ice Trail

Thursday, June 29th - Thursday, July 6th - Kenai Peninsula - The Portage Valley and Seward

The incomparable Prince William Sound 26 Glacier cruise east from Whittier

We waited patiently for the thunder of calving glaciers

We spent a fabulous week exploring the Portage Valley, Seward and Whittier! This section of the Kenai Peninsula is a temperate rain forest and receives rain typically six out of seven days during the summer. It is wet and cold and lush. After six days camping in the wet, we were ready to see some sun and, fortunately, we did on our last day when we had scheduled our Phillips cruise out of Whittier. This is gorgeous country, but be sure to bring your parkas and rain boots! Thank heavens we have a wonderful propane heater in our Casita. It never fails to warm us up after a cold day exploring.

Our Williwaw campsite nestled amidst the trees and ferns.
The sites are quiet, secluded and ideal.

We walked the 5 mile Trail of Blue Ice, a path
that meandered down the Portage valley

A boardwalk through the forest

The glacier silted blue waters of Williwaw Creek

A stroll in the mist

Don't sit too long - you may soon be covered in plant life!

Portage Glacier Visitor's Center

A view of Portage Lake from the Visitor's Center
on a misty day. The Glacier has receded far up the valley.

How did you get in here?

Aerial view of the Portage Valley

My new BFF!

Alaska State Bird!

The Portage Day Lodge - formerly the Portage Glacier Lodge

Established in 1956, refurbished in the 70's,
now for sale again - here's your chance!

The cafe where in the 70's, Doug enjoyed his
first Thanksgiving dinner featuring rabbit.

2.5 mile tunnel to Whittier - dug through the Chugach
mountains in a record 15 months! - 1942

Tiny Swiftwater Cafe in Whittier - Fish and Chips coming up!

Whittier pedestrian tunnel leading to town from boat docks.

Whittier docks.

We broke up our stay at Williwaw with a two-day excursion (July 2 - 3) to Seward, where we stayed in a comfy Stoney Creek B & B just outside of town. Seward was packed in anticipation of the big July 4th Mount Marathon race (3.1 miles with a 3022 ft. elevation gain) and all of the normal July 4th family activities for a small town. Quite fun and festive! We also toured the Sea Life Center - that provides rehabilitation for rescued sea creatures.

Our B and B retreat!

Rescued Tufted Puffin at the Sea Life Center - Seward

Sea Life Center - Seward

Hello! Harbor Seal greeter

How many types of Salmon are there? When other
customers asked "what kind of salmon" we knew we were in Alaska.

Sausage dogs

Small town 4th of July preparation

Numerous murals were painted on buildings in town.

On the day we left Seward, we hiked up to Exit Glacier. We were able to get fairly close and could see the incredible force it has applied in carving out the valley.

Such fun!

Exit Glacier

Blue ice - tons of snow tightly compacted

Exit glacier river

Life begins to thrive where the glacier retreats

More Seward murals

Spring has sprung!

Kenai - north of Seward

On our final day in Williwaw we scheduled a Phillips 26 Glacier Cruise for the western portion of Prince William Sound (out of Whittier) and it was outstanding! The weather was perfect (sunny and warm), the seas were calm and the scenery spectacular! And the cruise company - Wow! Everything was done perfectly! We were impressed! At the end, the entire crew lined the walk of the dock to say a final thank you! Way to go!