Portage Valley Camping Trip

There's nothing like setting up camp with an astounding view of a hanging glacier in the mountains in front of you.  We were particularly excited about this camping trip, and the view just made it even more special. No joke, while hubby and I were sliding the tent poles into their sleeves, we couldn't help but stop every few seconds, look up at Middle Glacier and smile before turning back to the task at hand.

If you are on the lookout for a prime camping spot, Williwaw and Black Bear Campgrounds (right next to each other) should be on your list. The campground host could be friendlier, I suppose, but the grounds were spotless, vault toilets were clean.  

Directly across from the campground, on the other side of the Portage Highway, is the Williwaw Nature Trail.

We were excited to explore this trail. It is well-known for scenic spots and several geocaches (the Fam just recently took up this hobby).

That is Middle Glacier behind us.

As we were admiring the pretty lupine and the amazing weather, the girls stumbled across a very obvious sign of bear activity...SCAT.  The girls have a little book that teaches them to differentiate between the scat of different animals in the region.  They were excited to say that the pile was indeed from a bear.  We strolled further down the trail and found ANOTHER one.  This one (pictured above) was much fresher...as in if it were a bit cooler outside, it would probably steaming.  And as we eyed the trail ahead as it narrowed between dense alder shrubs, we decided to not have to test our bear spray that afternoon, and turned around back to camp.

The next day was another glorious deep blue sky, warm, sunshiny day.  We loaded up on our bikes (Liv in the bike trailer) onto the Trail of Blue Ice, a world-class four-mile trail of boardwalks, arched bridges, and fantastic scenery that parallels the mountains and the glaciers on them.

The entrance to the trail from the campground.  You know the view is really gorgeous when a 15-year-old teenage boy stops his bike, lets his jaw drop, and exclaim, "My GOD, it's beautiful."

Yep, I agree.

One of the arched bridges that crosses over Placer Creek. There is a nifty spot along one of the bridges that overlooks the confluence of Placer Creek and the glacier runoff from one of the hanging glaciers above in which you can see the striking difference of colors of the merging waters...mint blue-green flows into a clear stream. Liv pointed it out and called it "soapy water."

At a resting bench overlooking Explorer Glacier.

There were times the highway would be visible from the trail.

At Explorer Pond underneath the glacier.  The water was this crazy turquoise blue.

Sophie eyeing the path of an avalanche from last winter.

We reached the end of the trail at the Moose Flats Day Use area.  The girls, of course, dipped their hands in the water, only to exclaim how much warmer it was than the pond by the glacier.

As if the six mile bike ride wasn't enough, we parked the car at the Byron Glacier trailhead parking lot (near Portage Lake) and went off to tackle a short hike (and burn off calories from the ice cream break we had at the cafe).

Byron Glacier in the background

At the toe of the glacier is a large snowfield the kids enjoyed cooling off in.

This was one of my personal favorite camping trips. I absolutely fell in love with the biking trail, the weather was perfect, the nights weren't too cold, and I didn't gag in the bathroom (yep, that's a criteria).

I don't like to return to many campgrounds we've stayed in previously since I like to explore new places as much as I can, but this is one I'll make an exception for.  In fact, we may make it a mission to stay here every year.  You should, too.

First Camping Trip of 2013: Eklutna Lake

 Memorial Day signals to Alaskans the first warm weekend of the year...a threshold into a summer long awaited.  With this year's fickle winter, this couldn't be any more true. It had snowed several inches just the weekend prior. It seemed all the residents of AK communed in collective prayer for sunshine and warmth after that mid-May snowstorm. Thankfully, the power of prayer is a strong force indeed.

I've commented on FB as we departed for this trip that this was definitely THE most unorganized camping trip we've ever tried.  In hindsight, it was pretty well planned.  I think the touchiest part of this endeavor involved in the securing of a first-come-first-served site at the Eklutna Lake Campground, since this place is a go-to for many locals.

Wednesday night, hubby and I went out to the lake after we put the kiddos to bed, and thanking the heavens for late hours daylight, set up the tent in one of the handful of vacant sites on the grounds.  We left, arriving back at the casa close to midnight, hoping nobody would notice that our site was unattended (apparently the practice of setting up camp just to reserve it is not allowed). Both Louie and I still had to work on Thursday...and we planned to make it out with the rest of our gear and the children plus dog that night.

To our relief, our site was still how we left it. It turned out driving out the night prior was a good decision.  When we came back, the campground was full, to include the overflow campground!

The kids lucked out when they found a homemade bow and arrow at the site.  Sophie didn't waste any time pretending to be Katniss. 

The Mister takes these trips as an opportunity to teach the children basic survival skills. In previous years, Dylan was the only one old enough to build a fire himself.  Now, Soph has stepped into his position, with Dylan moving up to the task of guiding her should she need help (of course, hubby is watching very closely as well).  This was the very first campfire she built all by herself.  Look at how proud she is.

Baby girl does NOT like smoke in her eyes. 

 We had plans to kayak the lake the next morning...but this revelation derailed our plans. The late season snowfall and low temps kept it iced over well into the end of May.

Instead, we decided to try to climb as high as we could on the Twin Peaks trail.

Sophie would blaze ahead, impatient with the slow pace. Liv would plop herself down in the middle of the path, as is the norm, and overturn large rocks embedded into the trail just so we could marvel at her strength. 

Mister D joked about the absence of the bench I had touted as our turnaround point, promising them  several times during our walk that it would be "just around the bend".

We stopped after about a mile and a half, never finding the bench we had strived to reach. The constant uphill grade was a bit much for the little one, who wasn't up to physical exertion that morning. 

 Back at camp, I whipped up some fried rice from some leftover rice and chicken adobo.

Then we drove two miles up the road to Rochelle's Ice Cream Shop for dessert.

Dylan always orders a banana split when we drop by here. I tried the Glacier Float (blueberry ice cream in 7Up) which was interesting and strangely delicious.

A quick run to town to purchase a new air mattress (the old one had an irreparable leak) took up the rest of our afternoon.

our goofballs

Homemade chicken and dumplings for dinner.

S'mores for dessert!

The next day was as bright and warm as the day before. We gathered our bikes and headed down the lakeside trail for a quick ride.

Roxy had a body harness tethered to the bike as well!

 One of our fave families came to visit and brought over a cookie cake to celebrate my 35th year of being YOUNG. As if that wasn't enough sugar, we drove over to Rochelle's again for some ice cream!

The telescope zoned in on the herds of Dall sheep grazing along the mountaintops.

If you can spot the outcropping of land jutting into the lake on the left hand side far off in the distance under the mountain, that is where we camped in a public use cabin last year.

As always, father and son occupied their time with rock-throwing contests...

...while Sophia dug in the glacial silt and rocks.

And as anxious as I was before this trip, it turned out surprisingly well.  The meals were planned just right. Aside from having to purchase another air mattress, we had all the gear we needed. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and everyone had a great time.

Not a bad way to kick off summer!