June 30th to July3rd - Portage to Soldatna

June 30th – Sat – to Portage area
We got up early, all dumped our waste tanks and were in convoy formation and on the road at 7:45. The reason for the early start and driving together was to try to get camping sites at Williwaw campground just out of Whittier. I had tried to get reservations in the 21 sites that are reservable and they were all reserved for the days that we wanted. But there are 79 sites so we figured we would give it a shot.
In less than 2 hours we drove past the “campground full” sign as we figured correctly that it was from last night. We started driving around and we and Dave & Margo passed one back-in site that Rick then nabbed. Then we saw a back-in for Dave and a pull-through which we took. It was reservable but the out date was today. Margo drove us to the entry where we saw the camp host just leaving to put a reserved sign on the spot that we were in. But we saw another available pull-through so I went back to sit at the table while Margo told Terry to move. The site was big enough that Dave & Margo pulled in behind us to share the site as they were quite a ways away. Rick & Pat are just around the corner.
Set up is quick without hooking up electric & water so we all went to Girdwood and took the tram up to the Alyeska ski area. There was a beautiful view from the top and we watched para-gliders taking off and floating down to the valley floor. We had an expensive – but good- lunch and headed back down the tram. On the way back we stopped at the animal rehabilitation center – there was a line of cars to get in! – and walked all around the facility where we saw musk ox, wood bison, moose (including 3 long-legged babies), caribou, eagles, bears, lynx, owls and lovely views of the end of Turnagain Arm.
When we got back it was time for happy hour. Our site was in sunlight and protected from the breeze so we got chairs & mosquito repellant out and enjoyed the outdoors. Actually, the mosquitoes were fairly plentiful but not much of a bother. This campground is wooded and the sites are separated so it is very peaceful and pretty.

July 1st – Sun – Portage/Whittier
We all met up at 10 to go to Whittier just a few miles away. You have to drive through a 2 ½ mile, one-way tunnel to get there. The tunnel is shared with trains so when one shows up it gets priority. Otherwise, the tunnel is opened for 15 minutes for traffic about every half hour. You pay the $12 return trip toll and line up in a staging area like ferry traffic lines. A traffic light spaces out the cars just a bit and you straddle the rails driving through.
Once in the small town of Whittier, we parked and walked. The clouds were hanging low over the mountaintops but there were still beautiful reflections of boats in the calm water of the protected harbor. We chatted about fishing and the town with 2 men from Anchorage who come here for recreational fishing. We got coffee, hot chocolate, doughnuts & cinnamon rolls at a little stand and went through the pedestrian tunnel that runs under railway tracks to “town”.
We eventually lined up for the trip back through the tunnel. We had seen a young lady at the coffee stand and she was working at the tunnel so we talked to her while we waited. She has been here for a little over a year and isn’t real happy with her sister who talked her into coming. She said that most of the 200 or so residents of Whittier live in a 14 story condo & office building and that she does consider her job to be a good one.
When we got back, we had a sandwich for lunch and took the bikes off the rack. Even with the cover they were totally dusty so Terry cleaned them up and we went for a ride with Dave & Margo. There is a lovely paved/boardwalk/concrete trail that runs past the campground. We rode the 1 ½ miles to the visitor center at Portage Lake, took pictures of glaciers & icebergs and went through the displays at the visitor center where our Golden Age passes got us in for free. We watched a film mostly about glaciers and were awestruck at the end when the screen went up and curtains opened to a huge window looking out at the lake, mountains & glaciers.
Back at the campground, we got out chairs & bug spray again, lit a fire and enjoyed our usual happy hour(s). After dinner, Terry watched a couple of movies and I read my book.

July 2nd – Mon – Portage
We went for a long bike ride with Dave & Margo this morning. We went the opposite way from yesterday and went 3.3 miles before hitting the end of the trail at Moose Flats and heading back. The weather was cloudy but we didn’t get any rain during the ride.
After lunch we all went on a one hour glacier cruise on Portage Lake. You can see a very small portion of the glacier from the visitor center but the cruise takes you around the corner and right in front of the glacier. We slowly moved along the front of the glacier a couple of times but it did not oblige by calving.
We had another fire and happy hour and went our own ways for dinner again.

July 3rd – Tues – Portage
We and Dave & Margo went for a long walk this morning. The trails are really nice, the streams are clear and the flowers are lovely but there are no fish spawning and we didn’t see any wildlife. Rick & Pat borrowed Dave & Margo’s bikes and did most of the ride that we did yesterday.
Then we and Dave & Margo went to Girdwood for lunch before going to watch the tidal bore. Rick & Pat had eaten lunch so followed a bit later in their truck. What is a tidal bore? you ask. If the low tide is a minus tide, when the tide comes back in the water catches on the exposed sand and stalls. The water coming in behind pushes the water ahead into a wave which breaks like the surf coming into a beach. Dave had read about this phenomenon and wanted to see it which we all thought would be fun. The charts tell you to adjust by +-30 minutes so we ended up waiting for over an hour before it showed up after 5. Several people were waiting on surf boards and rode the wave for miles. We moved from one turnout to another and watched the surfers and the waves. The wave was not as high as we expected but it was a fun thing to do.
We had a late, large lunch so no dinner accompanied happy hour drinks which were inside due to intermittent rain.
We are very sad to say that due to personal conflicts, Pat & Rick will no longer be travelling with us on this trip.

July 4th – Wed – to Soldatna
We left just after 8 for the short, 2 hour drive to Soldatna which is on the Kenai Peninsula. The king salmon run is practically non-existent this year so rivers have been closed to fishing including the Kenai. This means there were no fishermen lining the banks and parking areas were empty.
We checked into the city’s Centennial campground where there were lots of sites to choose from. After setting up, we and Dave & Margo went for a sightseeing drive. We were detoured by a parade in the town of Kenai so we stopped at a Subway for lunch before continuing north on the Kenai Spur Road. This is a flat part of the Kenai peninsula which borders on Cook Inlet. We drove to Captain Cook Recreation Area at the end of the road and parked for a while. The tide was way out and a lot of people were walking on the exposed sand & rocks. Lots of ATVs and a few pickup trucks drove around a corner and out of our sight. Someone said they had some kind of traps or nets set up and were emptying them on the low tide. People were looking for agates so Margo & I went for a walk but we weren’t exactly sure what they looked like and we liked the different colored rocks better!
When we got back, we went to Fred Meyers to look for a couple of items. Then it was back to the campground, happy hour & dinner which Margo made for all of us. A couple of drinks, a restless night last night and driving suddenly caught up to Terry so we were in bed very early.