Scouting Portage Valley
- Eric Bleicher
- Sep 28
- 3 min read
Despite living in the Anchorage/Mat-su area for most of my life, taking a drive out to poke around in Portage Valley is always enjoyable - the area sits just inside the Chugach National Forest boundary.
It turned out to be a really nice afternoon, with fall colors nearly at their peak along the Seward Highway and temperatures as high as 55F. We saw trumpeter swans at Potter Marsh, mountain goats at Windy Corner, and belugas retreating with the outgoing tide at Beluga Point.
To get to Portage Valley, all you have to do is jump on the Seward Highway and head south from Anchorage - it'll be about 20-30min southeast of the Girdwood turnoff (Alyeska Highway).
My focus on this trip was twofold - first was to scout for some looks I'd like to shoot, and the other was to enjoy some sunlight (we're losing 5 1/2 minutes of light a day right now). It's fundamentally important to me that I scout during the day to support staying safe at night, especially since hazards are so dynamic everywhere you go in Alaska, and things can always change on a dime.
The Seward Highway from Anchorage to Portage Valley has all sorts of great opportunity within it:
- Various trailheads that don't require big climbs/hikes to get good looks are right off the highway
- Plenty of pullouts available for shooting Turnagain Arm with the Kenai/Chugach Mountains
- It's extremely dynamic with the seasons, with each one presenting unique composition developmen
It also has plenty of challenges and hazards associated with it:
- Tidal mud within the arm and surrounding waterways, which you should never walk on (it's deceptive, and people have died from getting stuck then drowning as the tide comes in)
- Rockfalls on the highway that can be unpredictable/unannounced (especially between Anchorage and Beluga Point, where you can see scarring from recent wildfire in the mountains)
- The weather is unforgiving when it's bad, and can go from bad to worse (winds can be hurricane force, rain/snow/ice can be relentless, and in the winter there's plenty of avalanche zones)
I did stop at the Chugach National Forest boundary sign on the way, which sits about 10min away from Girdwood. Pointing west (photo) gives a nice look with bortle 3/4 sky. Pointing east or southeast from here, it's bortle 2/3. This look, like many others in the arm, will offer water reflections with calm winds at night, and large ice chunks will wash up on shore during the winter.
For the more pointed area within Portage Valley, I specifically like it because of the mountainous terrain and visibility of glaciers, alongside Portage Lake / Portage Creek.
There's also plenty of risk in this area between bear/moose, avalanches, intense wind, high precipitation, and a major landslide risk that's being monitored that could lead to a flood in the valley.
One nice thing about being back here is you have plenty of good options and looks without having to hike in. To the right is one example of where Portage Creek is running right along the road, with a nice look toward Whittier (is on the opposite side of the mountains). There are plenty of year round recreation opportunities back here readily available.
Another spot that I was really intrigued by is back toward the Byron Glacier area.
This is a popular hike and is really easy, one mile each way & very little elevation.
For the scouting picture here, this is directly off the road just past the trailhead parking area, looking toward the glacier and Byron Peak (4700ft).
The area from about 1/3mi in on the hike, all the way back to the glacier terminus, is avalanche & landslide prone. It's definitely a place I want to check out further, and find a good spot to try for some shots once the bears den up for winter.
This was a good refresher for me to reorient myself with the area, since I'd historically only driven through when going to/from Whittier for work. There's also much more to scout out back here, and at least through this trip I have a couple initial ideas in my back pocket for when weather cooperates.
