By sheer luck and a last-minute schedule adjustment, I managed to squeeze in two fabulous trips to Spencer Glacier via the Glacier Discovery Train. Rain sandwiched the September 4 trip; hard rain and wind, remnants of two typhoons, chased the September 11 trip.
Prior to catching the train, I checked out Portage Lake. Bus passengers crowded the M/V Ptarmigan deck as she circled a low blue berg before sailing off to see Portage Glacier hidden around the corner. Clouds hung low and mist spattered. I was happy to return to blue skies at Portage.
Suddenly, the joyous bugling of cranes caught my ears. I quickly looked up to see several skeins of SANDHILL CRANES overhead, my first of the fall. So thrilling! Then I boarded the train for the short trip to the Whistle Stop.
Spencer Glacier experienced considerable calving this summer during the hot sunny weather. Towering ice bergs packed the southwest end, temporarily grounded, waiting for their inevitable journey down the Placer River. Bergie bits in fanciful shapes dotted the calm shallow water, doubled by their reflections. Even though the glacier has receded dramatically, it is still very impressive and beautiful.
Gold, yellow, and red fall colors provided a spectacular background for the blue ice. A closer look revealed a lot of dead trees and premature colors also due to the severe and unusual summer drought.
A USFS engineer was inspecting the amazing 280’ Placer River Trail Bridge, the longest clear span, glue laminate, timber truss bridge in North America.
From the USFS link: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/chugach/home/?cid=STELPRDB5336206 The pedestrian bridge was completed in 2013 at a cost of $1.67 million. It is designed to withstand wind gusts up to 120 mph, 200# per square inch of snow load, flooding potential, and high seismic events. The bridge has 20 feet of clearance, designed to allow ice bergs to freely pass underneath during periods flooding. Quite a challenging and dynamic environment!
The deck panels, posts, cap rail and horizontal rail elements are made of Alaska Yellow Cedar glulam. No preservative is needed on these areas due to the decay-resistant nature of the wood, but they are now gray. The truss members and rest of the bridge are preservative-treated Douglas Fir glulam. I could smell the creosote, though not as strongly as in previous years.
The plan is to connect the Spencer Glacier Whistle Stop with the Grandview Whistle Stop with 30 miles of trails, cabins, and campsites. For now, however, that ambitious trail peters out shortly beyond the bridge, overgrown with alders, willows and fireweed. I noticed a lot of moose tracks, including young ones, and turned around, not interested in surprising their owners.
I saw very few birds on my trips. The water levels all though the wetlands around Portage were very low and the rivers seem very low. A small flock of MALLARDS preened on a exposed mud bar. Two TRUMPETER SWANS graced a pond in Placer River Valley. At the whistle stop I saw a few DARK-EYED JUNCOS and heard COMMON REDPOLLS. On the way back, however, in the Portage Valley wetlands near the railroad tracks, we spotted a flock of Sandhill Cranes feeding.
Despite this summer’s extremes of heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding, the resilient Cranes bring hope, joy, life, and inspiration in the face of adversity and dramatic change, just like Spencer Glacier.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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