RV ALASKA - Whining in Whittier

Back in 2006, our family of four drove down to Florida to spend time with Alan’s brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Joan, and visit Disney World.  We had so much fun with Aunt Joan and Uncle Tommy that I gathered our photos into a slide show and set it to music.  The last song in the montage was one I think all of you old timers would recognize – if I could just remember the title.  Which, of course, I can’t at the moment.  Anyway, the music was sort of sad and poignant, and our family, to this day, refers to it as the sad good-bye music.  At least one of us will reference it whenever we leave our family’s favorite lake at the end of our summer stay.  I warned Alan that I wasn’t going to be happy about having to leave Seward, and that proved to be so very true.  And I remember thinking – and probably mentioning to him – that it was time to cue the sad good-bye music.  Although I really didn’t want to leave, I knew we still had plenty of Alaskan adventures ahead.

Seward, in my mind, marked our turnaround point.  Not quite turning for home, but beginning the trek north in order to do so.  Our next stop – two nights in Girdwood at a U.S. Forest Service campground – would allow us time for a quick visit to Whittier and a couple of chances at catching a bore tide on Turnagain Arm.  Girdwood is a small town near the end of Turnagain Arm, maybe about an hour from Anchorage.  Its location made it a beautiful and pleasantly quiet base camp for what we wanted to do.

Date(s) – August 5^th – August 6th  

Total Miles Traveled to Date – 12,353

Wildlife Sightings to Date – During our two days in Girdwood, we spotted 2 eagles, 1 seal and 1 sea lion.

Our current count for wildlife sightings is: 95 eagles (including 2 fledglings); 4 seagull chicks; 10 swans (including 2 fuzzy cygnets); 9 sea lions; 27 seals; 17 sea otters; 3 cow moose; 1 bull moose; 1 grizzly sow with 2 cubs; 1 back end of a grizzly bear; 6 black bears; 1 coyote; 1 snowshoe hare; 3 rabbits (including one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves; 9 deer (2 of them bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 3 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Highlight(s) – Portage Lake!  This stunning lake, located just off Portage Glacier Road, looked like a scene straight out of the Alps to me.  (There’s also a Visitor Center there – more about that in a minute.)  The lake’s water was an amazing color, and the mountains surrounding the lake were spectacular.  Boat tours to the vertical face of Portage Glacier (not visible from the Visitor Center) were available nearby, and I believe kayak rentals may have been available, too, for anyone wishing to explore the lake on their own.  Alan and I took one look at Portage Lake and agreed: “Not a good boating day.”  In our family, that’s code for, “It’s way too windy, the water’s awfully choppy and we’d be in for a hell of a ride.”  Nonetheless, the lake was gorgeous, and we were glad we visited on the day we first arrived in Girdwood – the next day was rainy and dismal.  Again.  My understanding is that Portage Glacier can only be accessed via a boat tour or a two mile hike in from Whittier.  We weren’t too disappointed since we had seen quite a few glaciers during our trip and several of them from excellent viewpoints.  Honestly, considering the magnificent views we had of the mountains surrounding Portage Lake and the other glaciers in the area, there was little room for disappointment in our day.  Not so fun fact: On more than one occasion, as we’ve driven the road leading to a major glacier, signs have been posted at intervals indicating the terminus of the glacier in a particular year.  We saw this at Athabasca Glacier and Exit Glacier, and that visual, very much in-your-face cue indicating just how far the glaciers have retreated was very sobering.  I believe that Portage Glacier has retreated three miles since 1914. 

Portage Lake and Portage Glacier are located in Portage Valley and within the boundaries of Chugach National Forest, our country’s most northern National Forest.  In 1986, the U.S. Forest Service opened the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center that was built on the terminal moraine left behind by Portage Glacier in 1914.  The Visitor Center was named in memory of Congressmen Nick Begich (Alaska) and Hale Boggs (Louisiana) who died in a 1972 plane crash on the way from Anchorage to Juneau.  This Visitor Center was unexpectedly impressive in size, scope and the quality of exhibits – and it was the only source we trusted in reference to predicting when bore tides would occur in Turnagain Arm.  (And those predictions were the only ones that were right.)

Another highlight was the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, named for the chief engineer for the Alaska Railroad who led the construction of the tunnel during World War II.  At 2.5 miles long, the Anderson tunnel is the longest tunnel in North America – and the only one designed for temperatures of 40 below and winds of 150 m.p.h.  (It’s also the only tunnel in which jet turbine engines are used for ventilation.)  In the event of an emergency, there are eight safe houses in the tunnel – one every 1,600 feet.  The safe houses contain emergency phones fire extinguishers and alarms, and first aid supplies.  Emergency phones, fire extinguishers and alarms, and first aid supplies are located every 300 feet in the tunnel, as well.  The Anderson Tunnel connects Anchorage (and Girdwood, Portage, and the rest of Alaska) to the port of Whittier.  I’m sure you can imagine how cost prohibitive building two tunnels of that length might be.  So could the powers that be in Alaska.  So, vehicular traffic gets to share the one tunnel with the Alaska Railroad.  Yup, trains and cars in the same tunnel.  Thankfully, not at the same time.  But you do have to follow the train tracks through the tunnel, which is why vehicular traffic is carefully scheduled around the Alaska Railroad schedule.  It was pretty cool (and a little eerie) driving through a tunnel that long.  More eerie than it might have been, I think, because we visited Whittier very early in the day, and we were the only vehicle in the tunnel.  I just kept hoping that nobody had changed the train schedule and had forgotten to tell the tunnel personnel.  That’s one light I don’t want to see at the end of the tunnel and one trip on which I would have been happy to have some company.  Still, it was a fascinating and memorable experience.  I probably would have paid the $13.00 to drive through the tunnel and back even if we didn’t want to visit Whittier, just to say we did it.

Lowlight(s) – Our family has previously enjoyed two vacations in Alaska.  Both were a combination land tour and cruise with Princess Cruise Lines.  On one trip, we boarded our ship in Seward; on the other, we boarded in Whittier.  We have a favorite family photo from our second trip that was taken on the dock in one of those two ports.  Alan and I couldn’t remember which port it was, and we were too many thousands of miles away from home to try to dig up the information.  While we were in Seward, we looked at the photo and tried to compare its setting with the cruise ship dock and mountains in front of us.  Hmm.  Don’t think that’s it.  So, we were anxious to get a good look at Whittier and compare the photo to that setting.  Well, on the day we visited Whittier, the tiny port town was socked in with clouds that happily rained on us during our entire visit.  We couldn’t even see the mountains, and didn’t have a clear view of the cruise ship dock.  Based on what we could see, we think that our family photo was taken in Whittier, but it looks like the answer to that question will remain as “pending” until we get back home and I can investigate further.

We had spent only a brief time in Whittier when we boarded our cruise ship, so, this time around, Alan and I drove around the small town to see the sights, despite the rain.  I'd have to say that I wasn't overwhelmed, although I know other travelers have said that they loved Whittier.  The town really is tiny (population: 265), with very few places to eat or shop.  For me, poking around the harbor proved to be a pretty dismal experience.  The worst part, however, was seeing the old Buckner Building, an abandoned building that was built in 1953 to house Army personnel.  The Hodge Building was built in 1957 to house even more military personnel.  When the military began to withdraw in 1964, the Buckner Building was abandoned.  (To be fair, I will say that Alan thought the building was pretty interesting and would have loved to explore it.)  The Hodge Building was purchased from the military by the residents of Whittier in 1973 and renamed Begich Towers.  Now, about 85% of the town’s residents live in Begich Towers - which explains why Whittier is called “the town under one roof.”  Within the walls of Begich Towers are a post office, grocery store, laundromat, church, hospital and police station.  The building is connected to the school via an underground tunnel.  Honestly, the Buckner Building just creeped me out.  And the thought of living under one roof with just about every other person in town?  No, thanks.  I think we spent all of about an hour in Whittier, and it was pretty depressing.  Alan thought I was being a bit unfair, and he’d give the town another chance.  He believed my poor impression of Whittier was mainly due to the rainy, gloomy weather.  With a campsite at Riley Creek in Denali National Park waiting for us, we didn’t have time to give Whittier (and the weather) another chance.  Would we go back if we return to Alaska in the future?  Let’s just leave it at “to be determined.”

Sadly, the bore tide was one of our lowlights.  After hearing how the water rushes into Turnagain Arm when the tides change – to the point where people are actually able to surf on it, we were disappointed with the size of the bore tide we witnessed.  In planning to time our arrival at one or more viewpoints along Turnagain Arm with the changing tide, we did understand that the size of the bore tide varies.  Sometimes, it’s considered “big” and other times it’s considered “tiny.”  I don’t know exactly what adjective to use for the bore tide we saw, but it definitely wasn’t “big.”  We were so disappointed that we didn’t even bother trying again on the second day of our stay.

Campground(s) – We’ve had good luck with U.S. Forest Service campgrounds over the years, and Williwaw Campground in the Chugach National Forest was no exception.  The campground, located on Portage Glacier Road near the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, was quiet and heavily forested.  At $31.00 per night for no hookups, vault toilets and a hand pump for potable water, I think Williwaw was a bit steep.  At the $19.50 per night that we paid (including the online reservation fee) using Alan’s Lifetime Senior Interagency Pass, I think it was a bargain.  Williwaw earned the distinction of being the campground with the biggest, most solidly built picnic table we’ve ever seen.  (See photo below.)  Alan tried to lift it – and it hardly budged.

Pic(s) of the Day

Portage Lake

Also Portage Lake

I believe this is Williwaw Creek.

Lining up to enter the Anderson Tunnel on our way to Whittier

Two and a half miles of hoping there was no train at the end of the tunnel

Yeah, you'd better keep left coming out of that tunnel . . .

Because you don't want to meet one of these!

I don't want to live anywhere they keep a snow plow handy in August.

The abandoned Buckner Building

Begich Towers - home to, well, almost everyone in Whittier

Even the Whittier harbor looked sad and dreary on the day we visited.

The bore tide was pretty darn boring.

We drove along Turnagain Arm five or six times during our stay; this is the best photo I got.

Entrance to the Williwaw Campground in Chugach National Forest

Site 7

Best picnic table EVER!

Special Message(s) – Tracy K in Illinois, when you have a chance, please email me at reflectionsaroundthecampfire@gmail.com.  I have a question for you.

Up Next – Denali National Park - and another chance to see the mountain!