Alaskan Whistle Stop

Summer 2008

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
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Spencer Glacier by rail and paddle

by Dan Armitage

The sky-blue ice matched the color of the bottle of premium gin I had stashed back at my room, and as each paddle stroke brought me closer to the glacier, I considered chipping off a cube to chill a shot or three of the liquid Sapphire as a fitting way to end an eventful day.

Before I could act, Mother Nature performed the honor for me, causing the glacier to calve a Camry-sized chunk of blue ice that set the canoe bobbing in its wash. No small effort that, as the craft carrying me was an anatomically—if not materially—correct reproduction of a freight canoe that might have plied these same Alaskan waters two centuries ago. Measuring 31 feet bow to stern and 54 inches across the gunwale, the canoe carried eight of us, each with a blade in hand and stroking in unison toward the towering wall of ancient ice.

The voyage toward Spencer Glacier was just part of one of those rare paddling adventures that began long before we wet a hull. The fun commenced back in Anchorage, fifty rail miles up the line, when I boarded a train to take me to the remote site where I would see my first glacier up close and personal.

The Alaska Railroad recently began offering a creative mix of rail and paddle packages to its more adventurous passengers who want to reach out and touch some of the state’s natural wonders. One of the newest offerings is the opportunity to paddle a canoe to Spencer Glacier, tucked deep in the Chugach National Forest. To get to the site, the Glacier Discovery train leaves Anchorage at ten in the morning and follows the shore of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, so named because it was the spot that Captain James Cook decided was as far as his quest for the Northwest Passage would lead him, and he ordered his ship to turn around to seek another waterway that might mark the elusive route. The stretch of shoreline is rich in wildlife from bald eagles to wild salmon and the beluga whales that follow the fish, and my nose was tight to the window glass the entire hour-long ride.

Just past the first stop at Girdwood, Alaska’s famous ski resort at the base of Mount Alyeska some forty miles down the line, the train leaves the mainline for a twelve-mile spur to the port of Whittier. Known as the gateway to Prince William Sound, the trip includes an eerie passage through the longest combined rail-highway tunnel in North America, at 2.5 miles. After the stop at Whittier to offload anglers and sightseers boarding boats at the scenic port, the train returns to the main line to continue its trip toward Spencer. To do so, the route follows the rugged Placer Valley through a remote, roadless region filled with wildlife and overseen by numerous glaciers.

The Glacier Discovery train next stops at Portage, where personnel from Chugach Adventure Guides board the car and meet the passengers taking the canoe tour. Our guides introduced themselves, explained what we would be likely to see along the paddle route, answered questions and outfitted us with rubber knee-boots and raingear for the damp, overcast day.

Within minutes the train slowed. Peering through the window I could see the brilliant blue of the glacier, less than a mile from the tracks. The train stopped and the dozen of us who had signed on for the canoe paddle to the glacier got off and boarded a bus for the two-minute ride to the beach at Spencer Lake.

There, two giant canoes were pulled up onto the sand, each more than 30 feet long displaying the lines of traditional watercraft used in the region, with extended prow and exaggerated stern, and painted with traditional Haida designs.*

After a shore lunch prepared by the guides, we donned PFDs, were issued laminated ash paddles, and boarded the canoes, two abreast with a guide at the stern.

Primarily a solo kayak paddler, it was strange for me to be in so large a manual-powered craft propelled by so many arms—sort of like riding in a full-sized SUV after hopping off my motorcycle.

On the other hand, paddling the multi-person craft was like playing a team sport again after a season of singles tennis; I enjoyed the effort at coordination required to bring all the blades into a rhythm and stroking in unison. Once we mastered the commands and practiced the turns, stops and other maneuvers taught by our guide, the canoe cruised as if powered by a single force, and the effect—and the power—was thrilling.

So was the destination: the sheer face of the glacier that towered higher overhead with each centipede-like stroke of my fellow paddlers. We actually had to dodge several icebergs that had calved off the ancient river of ice, cruising close enough to verify that the ice that appears above the waterline represents but a fraction of what the berg holds submerged below.

The water wasn’t close to being as clear as the gin I hoped to chill with its source—the minute particles of rock and debris that the glaciers push around and suspend eventually shed off into the water as the bergs melt. Still, you can often see several feet below the surface, depending on the state of the lake’s turbidity. But it is the sights above the waterline that have awed and inspired visitors to Spencer Lake for centuries, and shouldering up to a hunk of ice that may be several thousand years old is not something to shrug off—or turn your back upon, as warned by our guide. You may get anything from a faint groan to a sound as sharp as the crack of a rifle to warn you as a chunk is shed from the ice wall where it meets the water, and you better be ready to paddle clear of the phenomenon known as “calving.”

You also need to hold on, for the waves generated by the future icebergs when they hit the water can easily swamp an ill-balanced boat far larger than the Big Canoes we were aboard.

After we checked out the glacier from water level, we beached the canoes on the gravel next to the ice’s edge and hiked atop the frozen mass, past ice caves and giant crevasses. Standing atop Spencer looking down at the water below as cloud-shrouded mountains towered over an icy landscape broken by countless kettles and moulans, I realized it was the best place I’d visited yet to soak up the scenery that makes Alaska such an appealing place to visit. Knowing that the only way to get to the spot was by rail and paddle made it all the more special.

If You Go

For more information about the Glacier Discovery Spencer Glacier Canoe Paddle, which sells for $181 per person roundtrip from Anchorage, contact the Alaska Railroad at 800-544-0552 / AlaskaRailroad.com or Chugach Adventure Guides at 877-783-2004 / info@alaskanrafting.com

The Canoes

Clipper Canoes’ Northern Dancer model was developed at the urgings of noted Canadian artist Roy Henry Vickers. It is a canoe true to native design, but has been built with modern materials. According to Clipper Canoes, the bow and stern of the Northern Dancer are true to time-honored First Nations lines and designed by Vickers. The hull was produced by Canadian canoe designer James van Nostrand. The Northern Dancer weighs a fraction of a traditional dugout canoe, and has all the aesthetic beauty of the boats that are considered national treasures.

The Northern Dancer is manufactured in fiberglass with Kevlar® and “S” glass reinforcing. The unique hull design makes it responsive for as few as 5 or 6 paddlers while it will handle up to 9 or 10. This canoe has been used extensively on the West Coast, from the Columbia River to Alaska. It is equally at home on large rivers and lakes.

Large canoes, those exceeding 22 feet, are often referred to as “war” canoes, particularly in articles written in the early 1900s. Today the craft are referred to as “Big Canoes,” encompassing the many styles and shapes paddled in North America today.