The Minimalism of the Portage Glacier

The Portage Glacier has been a popular fixture in Alaska since its first discovery in 1898. Keep in mind that ‘discovery’ refers to a person seeing it for the first time and, more accurately, also being crediting as the first person seeing by way of recording the documents. It is doubtful that any other group of people that walked past the glacier missed seeing it.

Today, however, walking past the Portage Glacier and not being able to see it may be an actual reality! The Portage Glacier is succumbing to the cruelty of the natural world and is slowly and steadily melting. As a result, the Portage Glacier continues to recede as it is losing the battle for the land with the lake that it rests upon.

Now, this does not mean that the Portage is not a popular spot to check out when one heads up to Alaska for a little vacation. No, quite the opposite. The Portage Glacier rests upon an area that is one of the most popular vacation spots in Alaska, if not the most popular.

In fact, one of the highlights of a Portage Glacier cruise is catching a glimpse of huge chunks of ice breaking off from the glacier and crashing into the water. In a way, one is witness to the cruelty the natural world brings upon itself. Then again, it is not so much a cruel embarking of elimination as much as it is the natural progression of nature altering the world around it. Perhaps one can take solace that the possibility always remains that nature may perhaps create a new, magical world where the glaciers once stood. In fact, the new world they are creating may ultimately be more spectacular that what had previously existed. Shame it may take a few hundred years. If nature had a quicker tun a round, we might be able to enjoy the sight.