Playing in a Snowfield

Wednesday, 25 August: Part I

Up early for our drive back to Anchorage, we checked out of the Seward Military Resort around 8:00a and went into town to have breakfast at the Sea Bean Cafe.

One last breakfast in Seward before we get on the road.

A piano in the bathroom?!? I wonder if it works?

I had only one place I wanted to make sure we stopped to see on our way to Anchorage, and that was Portage Lake. As for the rest of our stops … we decided to let the day unfold for itself.

GOOGLE MAP SHOWING OUR ROUTE UP SEWARD HIGHWAY AND TURNAGAIN ARM.
(YELLOW MARKER = PORTAGE LAKE; HIKERS AT THE RED LINE = Byron Glacier TRAIL;
RED MARKER = the AWCC).

The brief stop at Portage Lake brought with it some surprises. For one, unlike June 2001, there was nary an iceberg in sight; not even a bergy bit. I’d really been looking forward to that scenery; what a bummer. For another, we could easily see how much Burns Glacier had retreated in the nine years since our first visit. Global warming or just the weather cycle at work? I tend to lean towards the former.

Changes afoot — from 2001 to 2010.

At the nearby Williwaw Fish Viewing Platform we stopped to check out the salmon spawning in Portage Creek. We were able to see the same spawning behavior we’d seen in Kodiak, and this time I was able to capture a photograph of a couple of chum salmon doing the deed!

Chum Salmon Spawning
(the female is on her side releasing the eggs; the male almost simultaneously
releases a cloud of milt to fertilize the eggs.)

Sockeye Salmon (Male)

The USDA Forest Ranger at the platform kindly answered our questions about the nearby trails and helped us resolve the choice between the Blue Ice and Byron Glacier trails. He was right on with his recommendation that the latter would likely be more rewarding for us.

whereas the Byron Glacier Trail (#9) leads to a glacier, the blue ice
trail follows the creek; it doesn’t get close to the glaciers.
[scanned from the USDA Forest Service brochure]

The ¾-mile (1.2 km) easy trail took us to the permanent snowfield at the base of the mountains. The few people who were exploring the snowfield departed soon after we arrived, leaving us to enjoy the area by ourselves. Except for the sounds of trickling water as Byron Creek flowed over and around rocks and boulders, the entire valley was silent. We sprinted across a makeshift bridge of rocks to get close to the snow cave, resisting the temptation to go inside and explore.

Byron Glacier is what's termed a mountain glacier.
(the snowfield in the foreground is a result of winter avalanches.
the people at the edge provide perspective for the size of the field.)

Nice scenery, huh?

We debated hiking closer to the glacier, but decided against that idea. The snowfield, though compacted, was rather slushy and walking on it was difficult. As well, we had too much gear with us for a comfortable hike. Instead, we sat down and enjoyed our snacks, and then played around the snowfield for a while.

Trudging up a maze of compacted snow, we managed to find a pretty good spot to photograph Byron Glacier from a distance. But, the light conditions were not great. Yes, you guessed it; here comes a B&W photo ...

When a couple of families showed up and started playing in the snowfield, it was our cue to take our leave ... but not without one last capture of an ice sculpture at the edge of the snowfield.

I see a crocodile and a shark; what do you see?

Wildlife sightings are a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Had we not stopped to eat a simple lunch of cheese and crackers at a picnic table overlooking Portage Lake, we would have missed our wildlife highlight of the day. We were alerted to the sighting by a couple of cars that had pulled off to the side of Portage Highway. When we queried the bystanders, they pointed to a bull moose on the other side of the creek, slowly walking in our direction.

If one part of a successful wildlife sighting equation is luck, the other part is patience. No sooner were we out of the car with our gear that the moose disappeared behind some bushes. We decided to wait a few minutes; then a few more minutes. The others left, but we continued to wait. People came and went; some stayed to join us in our vigil. Our reward was this …

Slowly, the moose approaches …

… and crosses Portage Creek back to our side.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was across the highway and into the dense trees, leaving behind a bunch of disappointed newcomers. Grinning from ear to ear, we got in our car. We didn’t have to exchange any words; instinctively, we knew where we would be heading next.