Alaska by raft

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A day on the river begins with breakfast at the beautiful Alyeska Lodge. This hotel is enormous and has lovely gardens around the grounds. It is the only ski resort in Alaska and has a chair lift and a gondola. During the summer, hiking is the main activity. Tried the salmon hash and was disappointed as except for capers there was no discernible flavor.



At eleven we boarded the train for an interesting ride. Starting at Girdwood, we passed by Portage and then Whistler on Prince Edward Sound. The train waited there for about forty minutes and then backed up to Portage where it turned around hand headed To Spencer Whistle Stop, our destination. Two groups of people got off here; hikers and rafters. We were in the second group. A van drove us to the edge of Spencer Lake where donned boots and life jackets and boarded the raft. Our guide, Gus, rowed us to the far side of the lake where we moved among the icebergs that fell off the Spencer Glacier at the head of the lake. It was bloody cold though Gus was comfortable in shorts and sandals. Of course he was doing all the work.



Once we explored the bergs we headed to the Spencer River head and began our rafting down the river. We encountered few rapids and they were minor. We mainly drifted with the current in this pristine valley and kept a lookout for animals. The best we could was a beaver dam (no beavers). I should have mention earlier that this was by far the best weather we have encountered. The sun is out, the sky blue with a few fluffy clouds. We couldn't have asked for better. The float lasted about three hours and was an excellent way to spend an afternoon.



We landed at Portage whistle stop and rode the train to Girdwood and transferred to a bus for a two hour trip back to Anchorage. Checked into our hotel and headed to the Bridge for another infusion of King Crab. Can't seem to get enough. It's raining hard in Anchorage and that doesn't bode well for our trip to Denali tomorrow.

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