Portage Valley, AK

Today is already July 18.  We have not had Internet service available since July 12. It has been raining fairly heavy so, I hope to get 2 or 3 posts done this evening and the remainder posts done tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

We arrived at Portage Valley Cabins & RV Park near Girdwood, AK about noon today.

This little pond was at the back of the RV Park. Notice how close the small glacier is to this little pond.
 

The Jeep is parked at what will be our site.  However we are in a line to dump our holding tanks since there are no sewer hookups at the sites.
 

We are moving up to position 2. We were originally #2 in line.

After we got set-up and had lunch we decided to go to Anchorage to do various shopping we needed to do.  On the way back to Portage Valley we stopped at several pullouts/view points.
 

We stopped at Potters Marsh and watched the birds, most of which were gulls. Perhaps Mew gulls.  This one wanted to know what we were doing in HIS space. Hee Hee

The tide is out in Turnagain Arm.  Look how deep some of the mud crevices are! 
 

McHugh Creek created this small pond just east of Seward Highway with the saltwater Turnagain Arm on the west side of Seward Highway.  Below you can see the creek flowing in to the pond.

From the hilltop at McHugh Creek picnic area you can see Turnagain Arm. Turnagain Arm is like a huge cove off Cook Inlet.
 

The railroad was an important part of Alaska's history.  Steam engines transported loads of coal in this area.  The tracks are still used but for passenger trains now.
 

Across the highway from the pullout showing the train track were some mountains.  We actually got to see mountain goats. They were so far away, it was hard to get a clear picture.  This is one of the clearest pictures.

The farther south you go from Anchorage on the Seward Highway the closer you get to the glacial mountains between Girdwood and Whittier AK. That is what you are seeing here.

As we stopped at a viewpoint called Bird Point Overlook. We read info signs saying we might see Beluga whales.  Apparently they come in to feed shortly after the tide starts to come in. The timing was not correct.  The tide was still out.  We moved on and pulled into the next viewpoint where we saw several people looking as if watching for something. We met a young man that told us he was waiting for the bore tide.  He had a schedule showing that it should be coming in the next 10-15 minutes.  We decided to wait not knowing what a bore tide was.

These surfers were waiting for the bore tide.  While we were waiting, I searched the Internet.  A bore tide is a rush of seawater that returns to a shallow and narrowing inlet from a broad bay. We read they happen in Turnagain Arm daily, however the highest tides are around the new and full moons. Today is near either of those times so we were not sure what to expect.

Here the tide is.  It doesn't look very big but below you will be able to tell it is about 2-2.5 feet tall.  The sound of the rushing water was quite loud.

It was so cool to watch.  We liked it so much we have made plans to be there for the highest tide scheduled for July 24th.
 

"The terrain surrounding Turnagain Arm varies widely, from flat-bottomed valleys to high, rocky peaks.  Mountains around Turnagain Arm rise sharply from the shoreline to heights approaching 4000 feet. Treeline occurs at 1500 feet here--much lower than in mountains of the Lower 48 states." I took this from the Mile Post book we bought for our Alaska trip.