Portage Glacier

On Sunday we hopped into the car and drove down to the Kenai Peninsula.  We started our journey with a cruise to see the Portage Glacier.  This glacier is a part of the Chugach National Forest and is quite massive in size.  It rises 300 feet above the water line and it is a half mile long.  Another marvel of the natural world.

As you can see there were many chunks of ice floating in the water.  As the boat moved closer to the glacier the narrator made a statement about how our boat was made to withstand the ice in the water.  Didn't they say that about the Titanic, too?


The boat had an open observation deck and an enclosed area down below.  While sitting in the bottom area, the sound of the boat moving the ice chunks was quite eerie.  While Claire and I were indoors I made note of where all of the life jackets and rafts were, just in case.

It went from a warm 74 degrees to down right cold.  But I suppose being 300 yards away from a massive chunk of ice will bring about a little chill in the air.

When Nolan took notice of the ice floating in the water, he asked where the penguins were. I don't think he believed me when I told him there weren't any.  He kept his eye out for those elusive birds the whole ride.