Portage Lake and Glacier: Skating, biking and more

The weekend of Jan. 20 and 21 saw the perfect combination of cold and clear weather, leading to a thickly iced Portage Lake with a smooth surface. Locals from the surrounding area, including some UAA students, flocked to the lake for various activities.

With ice smoother than even indoor rinks – giving the illusion of being hot mopped – the lake was in perfect condition for skating. This was a rare occurrence of ‘wild ice’ – lakes that have frozen deep enough to skate but aren't covered in snow.

The distance from shore to glacier is about 2.5 miles in the winter, allowing easy access to Portage Glacier. Alaskans ice skated, biked, walked and even skied across the lake with young children, dogs and hockey sticks. Some even pushed strollers with ski-like attachments on the wheels that let them glide over the ice.

With temperatures on Jan. 21 being an average of 10 degrees Fahrenheit, Portage Lake experienced warmer weather than much of Anchorage has in recent days. However, clear skies and wind chill made the skate back from the glacier a frigid task – with the wind direction pushing skaters toward the glacier, and blowing freezing air against their faces.

Freezing temperatures are important to consider when skating on wild ice, and it’s necessary to ensure areas haven’t thawed recently so the ice is safe to skate on. Local weather advisories can help determine this – along with calls to the U.S. Forest Service, which may have evaluated the ice and can give advice on the safeness of outdoor activities. Being well prepared and only walking on thickly frozen lakes with proper safety equipment is important when being active outside in Alaska.

Along with the unique temperatures and weather patterns of recent days came hoarfrost. Hoarfrost is a beautiful, feathery frost that forms when water vapor in the air makes contact with the frozen surface of a body of water – in this case, Portage Lake. The vapor freezes instantly and catches more vapor from the air, creating what are essentially large branches of snowflakes. These delicate structures were crushed easily while skating, leaving only scatters of ice crystals across the smooth surface of the lake. Those that weren’t crushed created a whimsical and rare scene.

Once across the lake, Portage Glacier comes into view. The glacier is hidden behind a bend in the surrounding landscape and isn’t visible from the shore. The surrounding area features frozen waterfalls with a light blue coloring, but the glacier itself ranges from frosty white to a deep blue that seems almost manmade with how rarely it can be seen in nature.

The glacier has steadily receded in the past century due to climatic changes, and – like  many other glaciers – is at risk of melting and disappearing completely. While the glacier used to be visible from the Visitor Center at the shore of Portage Lake, it now hides miles back, only to be reached by crossing the frozen lake or boating in the summer.

Portage Glacier is a special part of Alaska that is definitely worth seeing, and our cold winter provides a unique and fun way to do it. When proper safety is followed, this adventure is one anyone could enjoy by walking or skating all the way to the glacier or simply sitting at the shoreline to enjoy the beautiful view.