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Portage GlacirrStarted off with a ride, or so I thought, into Portage to see the glaciers. The Portage Glacier was right at the visitor center ( not too much seems to go on there ) but then, much to my surprise, we had to drive to the Byron Glacier, about a mile or two away. But, much to my chagrin, we had to hike in order to see it! Of course I saw no animals, just a pebbled path, some slippery patches of Old, worn out snow and one full mile hike, ( it seemed like more) to boot! (oh well, I really need to start burning off some calories as opposed to firing them with a vengeance into my body!)
Next stop was going to be Soldotna. No-one wanted to stop there as it seemed too commercial (Frankly, I thought it was kind of nice to see a place, bustling with activity, for a change. All the usual suspects were there: McDonald's , strip malls, etc) But we moved on and back into the wilds.
When we stopped to take pictures of yet another mountain ( I swore it was simply the other side of Cook's Inlet (it looked the same,
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The hike to Byron Glacier anyway...do you remember the picture of the river and the mountains from yesterday's blog?) Well, Q told me they were volcanos!
Now I must admit I didn't know which one was which but I did take pictures of 2 of the 3. Apparently Mt. Spurr ( 11,000 ft) , the 3rd one) is about 85 miles from where we were, so obviously I know I don't have a picture of that one. That's too bad because it erupted in 2009 and its ash supposedly fell as far as Anchorage. ( did you know that they have volcanoes here?---I didn't..) .now I'm thinking I really don't want to go to Anchorage---who knows when Mt Spurr will decide to spew forth her fury!
I have to give Q credit for our getting these photos because none of us asked to stop. (You have to understand that really, after a while, all the mountains become just plain old mountains...)
45 miles to go before we reach Homer and I think you need to see the spectacular Sterling Highway and its offerings: don't worry, at least one picture will be there.
Now, I've got to tell you about those Russians! They came here in
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Finally at Byron Glacier the 1700's and I learned their main interest was to kill the seals, the polar bears and the walrus. (I don't like to think about that so I hope they froze their butt off in those icy glacial waters). Many of their towns and streets were named by them: Leopold St., Dimitri Ave. ---this is how I'm spending my time during this drive--watching for Russian name posts...)?
Lookie, lookie! Mile Post 158, Homer is just 18 miles away and is promising scenic views! They lied...At Mile Post 165, still nothing...Well at 8.6 miles from Homer, I saw mountains; however, trees blocked their view. Finally, with 7.2 miles to go, I saw mountains with waters rippling by their sides--- oh, joy of joys! And so, I'll regale you (like it or not) with oodles of pictures. Yeah, I know: same old, same old mountains.
I promise I'll try to do better: maybe, just maybe there will be some really cool
places (LOL) to shop in Homer and then, I'll take pictures of all I saw and bought!!!!!
Talk to you later...we're here, at last...
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