Alaska - Day 3 - Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Portage Glacier and Alyeska Ski Resort

If you ever have a chance to look at a map of Alaska, you will notice that there is usually one way to anywhere you can get to by car. The highway system is very minimal. In fact, if you want to go to Whittier, you have to wait in your vehicle until the train goes through the only tunnel and they open it up to cars. This is the road we traveled today. On one side of the 2 lane road is mountains with Dall Sheep on them, on the other is Cook Inlet and the mud flats.

On our way to Portage, we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. As we pulled in Helena screamed and jumped out of her seat - there it was - a MOOSE! She was so excited just does not describe her enough. The park was great - we saw coyote, black bear, bison, sitka, elk, etc. For a non-profit organization they do a great job. Before we left, we got to watch a black bear wake up from a nap in a tree and shimmy his way back down.

When we reached Portage it was cold!! It was also amazing to see snow covered mountain tops in June. The glacier is not actually visible from the road anymore, it has moved behind the mountains. You could see the Burns Glacier and the Shakespeare Glacier. There was also a small ice burg floating in the Portage Sea. We toured the visitors center and a Ranger was giving a talk about moose. The kids were very attentive to the talk, so was I. I wish I could give you more information about the area, but the pamphlet I picked up is in German!! Needless to say the area is beautiful.

After Portage we headed over to Alyeska Ski Resort and yes, 4 trails were open. They got a late snow in May! Most people were hiking from the new hotel to the top, but we took the tram up and back down. The kids had a snowball fight when we reached the top. Most of the trails on this side of the resort are double black diamond. The tram driver and I got to talking and he actually grew up in Maryland, Denton to be exact (20 minutes from where I live now!) The area itself reminds me of Deep Creek Lake with all of the cabins and such around the base of the mountains. P. said this is where they would come to spend weekends with friends growing up.

After that, we headed back to Casa de Monzon and were greeted with a great chicken dinner. Georgia and Big Louie really took care of us during our trip. Their hospitality was unbelievable and we could not be thankful enough!! We got a local lead on some antlers thanks to Georgia, so Tuesday we will see what we can find....