This map shows the two routes I skied up the Twentymile Valley. I was hoping to make it to the Twentymile Glacier, or Carmen Lake (both i upper right) but both times got turned back by dense vegetation and open water. The full trip is probably only poss

It was cold at Portage on this particular morning - overnight lows were in the teens. This morning there was a low fog in the air, and a firm layer of crust on the ground! I started at the Portage RR depot, and headed up the west side of the river.

This wasn't the photo I was trying to take here (damn those self-timers!), but it came out pretty well anyway.

This is the photo I was trying to take in the previous shot. Heading up the Twenty Mile. I only made it about 3 or 4 miles before I got boxed in by willows and river. Poor route choice I guess. I turned around and skied on the open areas for another h

Its always nice to kick back and relax after a good crust ski!

The next day, I had planned to make another attempt on the Twentymile. But temperatures overnight at Portage were only 28 degrees. Low enough? I wasn't sure, so instead I stayed closer to home and skied on the coastline of South Anchorage. The crust wa

I had some company out on the shore - I saw eight other skiers. I skied up to Campbell Lake. There I encountered private property that kept me from crossing the creek, so I turned around. On the way back I ran into another skier who mentioned that the

The next day, the overnight temps were cold again, so Bob and I hit the Twentymile. This time we approached from the west side of the river, hoping to make it further upstream.

Initially, the west side wasn't as open as the east side had been, but it stayed skiable longer. About five miles upstream, after crossing the Twentymile, we encountered Glacier Creek.

We traversed along Glacier Creek for a ways, but the going didn't get any easier, so we turned around shortly after this point.

Coming back out, we found a bunch of these cool 'veins' of open snow that snaked between the brush. We followed one until it died out, then look for another.

Eventually, we hit the Twentymile, which had much better ice cover than I thought it would. We were able to ski all the way back to the car on the river. Should of just started on the river! A couple days later and I doubt that would be possible.