ALASKA HIKE to PORTAGE PASS

Firstly, a bit about first impressions of our Princess cruise ship….

Getting onto the Royal Princess was a smooth, super organised process with friendly, smiling staff making sure we went the right way and got through the airport -like security without any stress.Almost no queues, despite over 3,000 people boarding today! Perhaps at 11 am we were one of the earlier groups.Before we knew it , we were walking up the gangway onto our ship which was like a glitzy 5 star hotel inside.Very plush and swish! We ended up really loving the ship, great to return to after our shore excursions and despite being almost full, we always found plenty of deck areas which were really quiet…I’m not sure where everyone went at times!

Our luggage had been taken to our cabin, an Inside Cabin on the 11th floor (Baja Deck , room B323 to be precise). Very nice, attractive compact room indeed, plenty of storage space for our gear(we had rucksacks and loads of wet weather/warm stuff too, walking poles etc) Noticed they’d put a big orange sticker on Chris’s case because they’d seen the extra alcohol he’d brought on board.I was expecting a deduction of corkage off my credit card soon…100 dollars , given it was 20 dollars per bottle and he’d brought 5 over the limit( we had 7 in total, 1 for each night).This still worked out much cheaper than forking out for the all inclusive drinks package as I hardly drink anything alcoholic and you can’t buy a single package…both people have to take it.

We may have been lucky with our neighbours but our room was super quiet at night and we both slept really well.

In great excitement and now pretty hungry (it was about 11.45am) we headed upstairs to the buffet where lunch was being served What an amazing, high quality range of food! Outstanding.Salads, Italian, curries, Chinese, sliced sirloin , roast chicken, cold meats, rice dishes, potatoes of various types…loads of veg which I was really pleased about.We ate from the buffet at breakfast, lunch and dinner all week bar one evening.We tried the Concerto dining room on our first night but it was a real let down.Fish barely cooked through, mushy mashed potatoes with no taste.Fussy service and tables cheek by jowl.Never again.

My only complaint about the buffets was, the desserts looked good but were actually not great in taste.I love dessert and good cakes but it was all fancy French patisserie type cakes whuch tend to look good but don’t taste of anything much apart from sugar.They seemed full of an odd artificial cream/paste, never fresh cream or even a good butter cream.So – not nice.There was always loads of fresh fruit.

The shortish Portage Pass hike had been recommended to me on TA’s Alaska Forum and I am forever grateful for that because it was a superb hike.Our ship didn’t sail till 8pm so we had plenty of time.

Got changed, sunscreen on, trail shoes on and off we set.Going on and off the ship, we used our Princess Medallions which were scanned; these also opened our room door and allowed any charges to be made if you purchased something not included.Really handy and easy.

Waking along the pavement towards the start of the hike, it took us about 20 mins to reach the first car park.During this time, the thought struck me that we had no bear bells or bear spray, no water(it really was hot) and no snacks as such.Well prepared!

However, as the car park came into view, it was obvious how busy the hike was – the overflow parking was in use! Thank goodness! No worries about bears with that many people about on a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon.From here it’s about 1 mile to the top of the pass, I think and 800 feet of ascent.

The path was good and headed uphill pretty much immediately.Lot of families with young children. We kept pace with two youngish guys ahead of us but soon wished we’d brought water as the trail got a bit steeper and needed a little more effort! It was hot! But we were soon ( 40 mins or so?) at the pass itself and what a view opened up! It was glorious – Alpine views but with far less effort to reach.

A really beautiful area to explore up there too…lots of wildflowers as well as the superb scenery all around and our ship far below looking tiny.

We probably had time to go all the way to Portage Lake but I was worried in case we had any even mi or accident and somehow missed the ship! This was far enough.A must do hike if weather is decent and time allows, great reward for only a bit of effort.

The two young guys took our photo and also told us that on a hike they did two hours after landing at Anchorage , a bear was on their path! I noticed they had bear bells and spray.The big downside of hiking in this part of the world.

Quite a few people hiking up obviously with the plan of camping overnight at the small lake below the pass.Nice spot!

Heading back to the ship…

Next few days: To the Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay