Portage Lake is over 600 feet deep and being a glacial lake, filled with glacial silt, it is a totally dead lake. Sunlight cannot even penetrate a few inches into the water. It is also a very cold lake hanging barely above freezing on the warmest days. We took an hour long cruise on the lake to see Portage Glacier. No calving of bergs here though the glacier was quite pretty. We also saw mountain goats on the steep peaks around the glacial lake.
We decided to stay in the Portage Valley at the Black Bear Campground. This offered us the opportunity to take a few hikes along the glacial river that run through the campground. The opal colored water is very lovely and though this river was relatively clear, we saw no fish. We hiked to a view point for another glacier in the valley. The Chugach National Forest is the largest by far in the US and has a tremendous number of glaciers.
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