Portage glacier (Anchorage, Kenai, Valdez: camp, ferry, car)

[austin_mommy]

Has anyone done the Portage glacier boat tour? Can you tell me more about the experience? We are planning to visit Alaska next month. We are a family of five. We want the glacier experience yet do not want to spend a fortune, considering the recession!

[Dusty Rhodes]

Yup, did the Portage with the Kenai Fjords, a day trip, one of the most spectacular days I have ever had, ranks right up there with landing at the base camp for the climbers of Denali , or the first time I saw a bald eagle at less than 6 feet distance, or, that day while watching the Alaska Range from the deck of the B&B in Talkeetna, Denali came out of the clouds.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by austin_mommy

Has anyone done the Portage glacier boat tour? Can you tell me more about the experience? We are planning to visit Alaska next month. We are a family of five. We want the glacier experience yet do not want to spend a fortune, considering the recession!

If you want the glacier experience on the cheap, visit Exit Glacier (about 10 miles outside of Seward) or the Matanuska Glacier (Mile Post 100 of the Glenn Highway). Both are landlocked glaciers, so you can get up close and personal, but I wouldn't advise it. Even though they are landlocked, they are still glaciers and they calve rather large chunks of ice.

Portage Glacier is still worth visiting even if you are not going to take the cruise. They have a nice information center there with lots of exhibits.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by Glitch

If you want the glacier experience on the cheap, visit Exit Glacier (about 10 miles outside of Seward) or the Matanuska Glacier (Mile Post 100 of the Glenn Highway). Both are landlocked glaciers, so you can get up close and personal, but I wouldn't advise it. Even though they are landlocked, they are still glaciers and they calve rather large chunks of ice.

Portage Glacier is still worth visiting even if you are not going to take the cruise. They have a nice information center there with lots of exhibits.

Yep on all that, not to mention that Worthington Glacier out of Valdez is also able to be walked up to.

If you have a limited time but still a few days, then take the Alaska Ferry system out of Whitter to Valdez, you will see lots of Glaciers and marine wildlife and a great drive from Valdez back to Anchorage...

[rotorhead]

Lets make sure we're talking about the same thing here.

Yes, there is a boat tour out to the Portage glacier from the visiters center. Kinda handy, since that glacier has retreated so far from the visitors center that you can't really see it. I haven't done that one, though I have visited the visitors center and flown over Portage pass a time or two. You do NOT go through the Whittier Tunnel to visit Portage glacier, as I recall.

There's also the '26 glacier tour' or whatever the name is out of Whittier, the one that takes most of the day even on the large and speedy catamaran tour boat. That tour is really one of Prince William Sound, and is both very scenic and fairly spendy. I have done that one and I'd do it again, especially with out-of-town guests. You DO have to travel out and back through the Whittier Tunnel to do this tour, so plan your car travel times according to the tunnel schedule.

[Chilkoot]

If you end up doing Portage Glacier and if everyone in your group is mobile, Bryon Glacier is less than a mile from the parking lot between the Portage Visitor Center and the boat dock. You can actually walk onto the glacier. It is also known for having several colonies of ice worms.