Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/bodies-of-water-of-anchorage-alaska

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Portage Lake (Alaska)

Lake in the state of Alaska, United States

Portage Lake (Alaska)

Lake in the state of Alaska, United States

FieldValue
imagePortage Lake (1).jpg
captionPortage Lake, as seen from the Western edge near the Begich Boggs Visitor Center with Bard Peak in the distance
locationChugach National Forest, Alaska, United States
coords
inflowPlacer Creek, Mallott Creek
outflowPortage Creek
basin_countriesUnited States
length3.0 mi
width.89 mi
depth600 ft
islandsnone
pushpin_mapAlaska#North America
pushpin_map_altLocation of Portage Lake in Alaska, US

| max-depth =

accessdate=December 5, 2012 }}</ref>

Access and recreation

Cross-country skiers enjoy the spring &quot;crust&quot; skiing on Portage Lake
Ice skaters recreate on Portage Lake

The western shore of Portage Lake is easily accessed via a large parking lot at the lakeside Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, just off the Portage Glacier Highway. (The Center was named after Congressmen Nick Begich and Hale Boggs, who were killed in a 1972 plane crash.) Portage Glacier Cruises operates a short glacier cruise, which takes visitors near the face of the glacier. Recreational boating in the lake was illegal in the past, due to rolling icebergs and the calving face of Portage Glacier at the far end of the lake, but is now legal, though proper precautions must be taken for the challenging conditions. During winter and spring, the lake is a popular destination for cross-country skiing, kite skiing, mountain biking, skating, snowshoe running, and hiking. The "crust skiing" of mid spring is especially prized by skiers. Skiers must take appropriate precautions near Portage Glacier, as the constant movement of the glacier's calving face breaks up even thick lake ice and can create patches of open water or unstable ice near the glacier's face, even in midwinter.

Fatalities and incidents

Its low temperature year-round makes Portage Lake a potentially dangerous locale for swimming or other water activities.

  • July 2012. Utah resident Levi Matheson Taylor saved an Anchorage resident from drowning after he attempted to swim 75 feet to a gravel bar.
  • October 2012. One man dead after attempting to retrieve a canoe.

References

References

  1. ""Anchorage Daily News article, "Man presumed dead after trying to retrieve canoe in Portage Lake"".
  2. "United States Geological Survey (USGS), "A Century of Retreat at Portage Glacier, South-Central Alaska"".
  3. [http://www.fs.usda.gov/r10/chugach/recreation Begich, Boggs Visitor Center]
  4. "Portage Glacier Cruises".
  5. "Anchorage Daily News, "Snowkiting on Portage Lake"".
  6. "Anchorage Daily News, "In order to ride on the ice, cyclists add studs to their tires for traction"".
  7. "Alaska Performance Backcountry Skiing: Crust Skiing 101 : Popular Crust Skiing Spots Near Anchorage".
  8. "Anchorage Daily News: "Crust Skiing on Portage Lake"".
  9. "Utah hiker saves Anchorage man drowning in frigid Portage Lake".
  10. "Anchorage Daily News article, "Man presumed dead after trying to retrieve canoe in Portage Lake"".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

bodies-of-water-of-anchorage,-alaska lakes-of-alaska
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Portage Lake (Alaska) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report