Alyeska Views

As we headed out of Portage Valley on Wedsnesday morning, there were a few patches of blue sky ahead of us.  Most of the mountain was obscured by low cloud cover, but that didn't stop us from deciding to add an extra stop to our itinerary.  

All of us decided that we would drive to Girdwood so we could take the tram up to the top of Mt. Alyeska.  The 7 minute ride took us up to an elevation of 2,300 feet, near the top of the mountain.  When we normally think of mountains, we think of Colorado and the 14,000 foot peaks there, not a "foothill" of only 2,300 feet.

Still, the views from us here were magnificent, revealing glaciers sitting in the crevices of the Chugach Mountains and lush green fields below us.

Gary, Sherry, Norm and Landi were engulfed by the clouds as they headed toward one of the viewing platforms.  At some points, you could hardly see anything at all because the clouds obscured the view.

Another tram emerged out of the mist, carrying tourists who didn't want to spend 2 and a half hours to hike up the steep mountainside.

Don was busy reading information signs

while Jerry was taking pictures from the roundhouse platform.

This is something I haven't seen before on any other tram ride:

Take a quick look at the next 2 pictures, taken only 1 minute apart.  I could hardly see Turnagain  Arm at first, but the ever changing clouds departed, giving a nice shot  from the viewing platform.  It reminded me of a curtain lifting just before a show is supposed to start.

We decided to have lunch at the restaurant on top.  The " Alyeska Fungus Festival Cheese Steak" intrigued me.  I just had to try one of those!

And this is what it looked like just before I devoured that scrumptious sandwich loaded with marvelous mushrooms.  Tasty!  

After lunch, the clouds parted once again, revealing the Seward Highway that runs along the Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage.

As we headed back down to the small town of Girdwood, we could see the hiking path winding it's way through the emerald green grass and pine trees.  Made me glad a second time that we could take the tram instead of having to hike up!