Portage Glacier and Seward

AN EXCELLENT VIEW OF PORTAGE GLACIER
6/28/2012

I have no idea how I ever tolerated living in Houston all those years. We had thought we would stay tonight and maybe tomorrow night in Anchorage. But, I just can’t stand the traffic and the time it takes to get from point A to point B. I would much rather drive hundreds of miles in rural areas.

We did make it to the Y to workout and now we are in a National Park campground with an excellent view of the Portage Glacier. Since we have the all access senior citizen pass, we get free entry into the park and pay half price $9 for the campsite. There is no water or electric, but the view sure beats the Wal-mart parking lot. When we were here last year, it was much cooler and rainy. Today is cool (about 55-60 degrees, but it is now very sunny (at 9:15 pm) We also have much more snow on the mountains. I think I read that Anchorage had one of  the highest snow measurements ever for this winter. There are quite a few cascades and falls from snow melt that are visible from our campsite. The mountainside that is without snow is very green and the contrast with the snow and the blue of the glacier is beautiful. I’m sure that my pictures will not capture the beauty, but I have a great memory.

We do not have to be in Seward until July 2 so we have a few days to explore. Tomorrow we will check out Hope and maybe stay there for the night.

IN SEWARD, AK
6/30/2012

We are now at a Forest Service campground about 25 miles North of Seward. Our furnace has decided to stop working and we do not have electric at this place. You ask why that should be a problem. The answer is that it got down to 43 degrees last night. That’s OK because I have two blankets and I just stayed in bed until it warmed up a bit and then I wrapped myself in a blanket while I ate breakfast.

Yesterday when I ran in Seward, I made the mistake of starting out with the wind behind me and then I compounded that by misjudging how far I was from the truck when I decided to walk it in. The wind was blowing in over the water and I got really cold. That will teach me that I need to plan for these much lower temps and the wind.

Our forest service campground, located about 25 miles north of Seward is very nice. It is in a wooded area with views of the snow capped mountains and near a river and lake. We will be here two more nights and then go into Seward for a week at a upscale RV park.

Seward hosts the Mountain Marathon on July 4. The event is a 3 to 3.5 mile race up and down a mountain. The distance varies depending upon the route. It starts at an elevation of less than 100 feet and goes up to just under 3000 feet. This will be the 85th running of the race and the entire town is already packed with people. It is very difficult to obtain entry into the event, which is limited to a field of about 1000 adults. They also have akids race with about 350 and they do half the distance. Seward also hosts a really neat “small town” 4th of July celebration. Last year we really enjoyed watching the race, the parade and feasting on some of the food items.

Here’s a link to last year’s race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aujo4bItnyI