Anchorage Daily News

Despite a cold rain and low-hanging clouds that transformed Portage Valley into a gray canvas, we pulled our bikes from the car, piled on our rain gear and pedaled into the mist. We'd come this far to experience one of the newest riding trails to emerge in the past few years, and rain wasn't going to deter us.

Called the Trail of Blue Ice, this Chugach National Forest Service-sponsored project is 10 years in the making and still under construction. At 6 miles long, it eventually will link the Seward Highway with the Begich Boggs Visitor Center at the end of Portage Glacier Road. Cyclists, joggers, skiers and walkers will enjoy its flat profile and scenic meandering that take the traveler off the main road and into some of the area's most spectacular scenery.

Allison Rein, Chugach National Forest recreation planner, said the project has inched along slowly with little fanfare. But after last year's segment -- which included three bridges, intricate rockwork and hundreds of feet of elevated boardwalk -- was finished, word began to get out.

The trail is beautiful.

Oren Herson, chief operating officer of Oregon Woods Inc., the Eugene-based outfit that won the bid for that phase of the project, called it one of his most rewarding jobs. The company has completed trail projects throughout Alaska, but the Trail of Blue Ice allowed Herson and his co-workers a chance to make something as pleasing to look at as it is to use.

"It was about a summer's worth of work," he said of the 3,200-foot section of trail the company completed last year. "We've got about 600 feet of elevated boardwalk. And the three bridges, which are made of yellow cedar, are 57, 53 and 45 feet long.

"It was all designed by the government and they handed us the specs. ... They told us where to put it, but the process of actually building and making it right happened when we were out there."

The trail is truly impressive, especially the section between the Black Bear and Williwaw campgrounds. This summer, the company completed the last of the project, a 65-foot tied-arch bridge that rises from the forest regally yet also blends in naturally.

Rather than being constructed in a straight, boring line, the trail meanders through the forest, offering glimpses of glaciers, cottonwoods and streams.

"It was a really fun project," said Herson, who on Wednesday was awaiting word on whether his company would win the bid for Phase III, the final phase of the project that will connect the trail from the Explorer Glacier Viewing Area at Mile 2.4 to the west end of Black Bear Campground at Mile 3.8. "We've gotten amazing amounts of positive feedback from people. They are blown away, asking, 'How did you do it? How did you get those stringers out there? How did you get those 57-foot glue-lam (laminate) sections out here?' It's all this head-scratching, but people seem to like it."

Rein said the Trail of Blue Ice is much needed in Portage Valley. Plans for the scenic, meandering route underwent environmental review in 1993, but when the tunnel to Whittier began, the trail project foundered, sitting behind the more important tunnel project and awaiting funds.

However, Rein said, the tunnel also magnified the need for a trail that would take walkers, runners and cyclists off the road.

"We had the need to connect the campgrounds anyway, but the whole project became a mitigation for the tunnel, because now Portage Highway is a heavier-trafficked road," she said. "The trail is supposed to go all the way down to Seward Highway, eventually, but we're waiting for those (Seward) highway improvements first."

For now, the route is fairly simple.

The western end of the Trail of Blue Ice is at the Moose Flats Day Use Area, about a mile down the road, on the north side. The trail is made of crushed gravel, harvested right in Portage, Rein said. The gravel is compacted and spread wide and even to provide a trail surface suitable for bikers, skiers, runners, strollers and those in wheelchairs. Elevated boardwalks and small bridges span waterways, and some areas include stops along the way at the most scenic spots.

The trail crosses the road only once, just before the Explorer Glacier Viewing Area to the south. At this point, the trail disappears and does not pick up again until it reaches the west end of Black Bear Campground. That missing link is the third phase of the project, the one Oregon Woods is hoping to complete if it wins the $1.5 million bid.

"That is the next big section to do, and it will have a lot of boardwalk," Rein said. "It's yellow cedar, not treated lumber. The Forest Service in the Alaska Region emphasizes the yellow cedar because it lasts almost as long (as treated lumber) and doesn't have all the toxins as the treated wood. We were able to continue within our budget using (yellow cedar), and it's been affordable."

Those eager to continue the Trail of Blue Ice can do so despite the missing link.

Just follow the Portage road to Black Bear and pick up the trail again there, where it follows along a ribbon of creek at the back side of the campground. We rode this section of trail by the water's edge, enjoying the ferns and tall trees in the area and listening to the rain splattering on the leaf canopy.

Outside of the campground, the crown jewel of Oregon Woods' work came into view, the large arched bridge with its intricate railings and straight-from-nature design. The bridge connects to boardwalks that allowed a leisurely, meandering ride all above the water and wetlands below.

"They had until July 15 to get that bridge in; you can't do stream work after that because of the fish," Rein said. "It turned out really nice."

After we rode the boardwalk and bridges, the trail opened up again and we approached Williwaw Campground, where day users and campers strolled along the trail, huddled under umbrellas or wearing heavy rain slickers.

The beauty of the trail seemed to draw them outdoors despite the weather, and even a group of day campers from Anchorage seemed to be enjoying themselves, looking for wildlife and plants along the trail.

Eventually, the path leads to the Begich Boggs Visitor Center, making its only incline up a twisty but short hill before dropping down into the visitor center parking lot with a view of Portage Glacier and Lake.

Those wanting to continue their adventure can park their bikes and hike the nearby Byron Glacier Trail or, in winter when conditions are right, ski or bike across the lake toward the glacier.

The possibilities, said Carl Skustad, Chugach National Forest ranger, are endless. He said he is glad to see the Trail of Blue Ice finally getting some use. Despite being incomplete, it is still perfectly usable.

"It's new construction, so you just route-find your way through," he said. "But it's been a long time in the making, and it's a nice trail."

The third phase could begin as soon as this winter. Rein said the elevated boardwalks must be installed once there is snow on the ground, to minimize disturbance to area streams. She hopes it will happen soon, because skiing, she said, is one of the best recreation prospects for the Trail of Blue Ice.

"We're hoping to have it available to skiers, but there was not much use until spring this past year," she said. "I went out there and it was pretty hard work. It was fresh snow, knee-deep in places. We need to get more people out there to discover it."

Find Melissa DeVaughn online at adn.com/contact/mdevaughn or call 257-4482.

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