The drive from our austere lodgings at Birdridge Motel to Whittier is about 40kms but it would take us longer than an hour. We were in no hurry so spent quite a bit of time in the Portage Valley, walking on a myriad of bush trails (no tracks in N.America), looking at floundering salmon and hunting out the odd geocache. There is a one way 2 1/2 mile tunnel on the way so we had to wait our turn to get through. It rained most of the day but never got very cold.
Our accommodation in Whittier was on the 15th floor of a building dating from 1964 and built by the American armed forces as a strategic location during the Cold War. All seemed a bit far fetched for us but was very comfortable. The oddest thing was that there was a sauna room in the lounge. Rather than a steam room it was electric and sauna by radiation and claimed to cure most ills. We gave it a good go but can't say that it cured anything that I know of...maybe we're just too healthy!
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| Otters at sea |
We drove to Whittier as we had booked a full day out with a small operator (6 people boat) to look for aquatic wildlife and glaciers. The boat left the dock at 9.00 am and we had 8 hours on the water. Unfortunately whales were playing away so no sightings made but we did see sea lions and crazy little otter fellows who spend 90% of their lives floating on their backs in the ocean. They were way out from the coast and appeared to be a long way from their larder!
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| Surprise Glacier |
The main attraction, for me, was to see a glacier "calving", a large chunk of the face falling into the sea. We got up quite close and our excellent operator just waited around for as long as we wanted. There was a huge chunk that we had decided would look magnificent if it fell but realised that this is a couple of million years old so unlikely that our half hour would prove overly memorable.......but not to be, rumblings started, noises rang out like gunshots, she slowly toppled,.....magnificent! The biggest piece our operator had ever seen go over - it really was a great sight. A pretty spectacular day out everything considered. We got back in to Whittier to find a cruise ship in dock, totally dwarfing the small town of 280 people.
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| Portage Glacier |
On our way out of Whittier we made a trek to Portage Glacier. This required a 3 hour hike up over a low pass and on into the Last Frontier, as the Alaskans call it. Their trails are fairly well managed and we enjoyed walking into the woods. Spotted a large beaver dam which surely would earn an honorary engineering degree at any prestigious university around the globe. They are clever critters when it comes to building in the water. Out of the Portage Valley area and we race toward Anchorage with a quick stop to watch Beluga whales in Turnagain Bay. We hadn't ever heard of these type of whales and they are visible from the main road but a fair way off shore. Camped at Creekwood Motel for the evening and ate at the Broken Tooth Brewery and Moose's Tooth, the attached restaurant. The brewery has over 20 of their own concoctions on tap (Half Gallon Growler, Wild Country Raspberry Wheat, Polar Pale Ale and Northern Lights Amber Ale to name a few) - they serve no other alcoholic beverages......and the place is packed and we waited 30 minutes to get seated while the diner next door was half full. They must be doing something right and if our experience was anything to go by then they surely are.
We can reflect most favourably on our week in Alaska, it was well worth the visit. Nice to be able to spend the time exploring with Blair and to know that Hayden is keeping our ship on an even keel - good times at the Last Frontier. Trouble free flight back to Vancouver and seamless transition through immigration and customs once again.......I think they like us here.
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