Posts Tagged With: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Icebergs in Portage Lake in Chugach National Forest

Indian, AK. Friday August 30

Indian is just 10 miles east of Girdwood. For one night, a mom and pop and children road side motel has replaced the B and B that was our planned lodging in Cooper Landing, AK. We will skip Saturday night in Cooper Landing also and stay at a hotel in Anchorage and then drive to Cooper Landing on Sunday. The road to Cooper Landing and then on to Homer is open although travel is not advised. Rain this weekend should dampen the fires enough to make travel a bit more normal. Our Homer air company said their current customers have made it to Homer without major incident, but with delays.

The Begich-Boggs Visitor Center

Today was a slow, pleasant day along the Portage Glacier Road. This is a short stretch of road leading from the Seward Highway over to the infamous Whittier tunnel. It is part of the Chugach National Forest and numerous recreational opportunities line the roadway. The day started at the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center for the Chugach Forest. The center has extensive displays, a video, and information about the forest. It is named after two U.S. Congressional Representatives who died in a plane crash around here in 1972. The plane and bodies have never been found.

Hiking in Chugach Forest along Portage Glacier Road

We hiked along the lake and along the Trail of Blue Ice. This was calm and protective from the wind howling along the lake. The highlight of the morning was finding the creek with spawning salmon that the Forest Ranger on the cruise ship had mentioned. The Williwaw Creek hosts all of the salmon types and is clear. In contrast to the Valdez fish hatchery, here we could clearly observe salmon in their native habitat.

Salmon in Williwaw Creek in Chugach National Forest

Two types of salmon were present; red for sure and the second was either dog salmon or pink salmon. The natural processes were at work. The male salmon were right behind the females, waiting to fertilize the eggs and chasing away any competition. The salmon die after spawning and you could observe periodic dead salmon along the shore, waiting to be re-absorbed into nature. The creek was busy, there were plenty of salmon but not the masses that had been bunched together at the hatchery.

Lunch was brief, at a picnic table beside a pond along the Trail of Blue Ice. We finished up the day spending time at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. At first it felt weird to be here. It is almost a zoo and we have been spending our time seeing these animals out in the wild. On the positive side, the center cares for injured animals and has helped propagate the return of the Wood Bison to Alaska.

The Wood Bison are native to this area and are a distinct subspecies of the American bison. The Wood Bison were believed extinct after heavy hunting. In 1957 a herd was discovered in Alberta Canada and through conservation it has grown. In 2008 a group of 53 were transferred here to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The bison have been bred and are being re-introduced to a few areas under the control of native Alaskans.

Bears at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

The Conservation Center is home to wolves, foxes, musk ox, elk, caribou, bears, moose, reindeer, and wood bison. It is a popular stop along the Seward Highway-Portage Glacier road. We found the bears irresistible, as evidenced by the photos above. Okay, so the bears were not in the wild but still fun and entertaining to watch.

Slower and pleasant day.

Lunch time

Ed and Chris. Indian AK. August 30. 8:30 PM