Monday, June 5, 2017

Temp: 49 degrees , raining and raining High temp: 57 degrees

Saying for the day: Friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon. ( A sign we saw recently; we 'are' in Salmon country)

We have a boat cruise planned for today and it's raining! Well, we must go anyway. To get to Whittaker we must go through the a tunnel, at 2.5 miles, through a mountain. It was only accessible for trains until the year 2000. It's a one lane tunnel with train tracks down the middle. Going into Whittier, cars go on the half hour; coming back from Whittier, cars go on the top of the hour, all day long. The train always has precedence. The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel (often referred to simply as the Whittier Tunnel) is a multi-use highway and railroad tunnel that passes under Maynard Mountain. At 13,300 ft (4,100 m), it is the second-longest highway tunnel and longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America. The tunnel was upgraded to mixed use by the Kiewit Construction Company.The tunnel is designed with a single highway lane. The floor of the tunnel is constructed of 1,800 texturized concrete panels (each 7.5 feet (2.3 m) by 8 feet (2.4 m)) with the railroad tracks sunken slightly below the road surface. The interior is exposed rock, and contains several "safe-houses", which are small buildings that are used in case of severe earthquakes, vehicle fires, or other emergencies. The tunnel also contains several pull-outs, which are reserved for disabled vehicles. The tunnel uses a combination of portal fans and reversible jet engines to ensure proper air flow and air quality throughout the tunnel.
We arrive at the wharf and get checked in for our cruise with Major Marine Tours. This is a 5.5 hr. cruise into and around Prince William Sound. This area has the largest concentration of glaciers in N.A. Literally hundreds and at least 26 are named. The cruise is a Wildlife/Glacier tour. We have a bit of time so we walk around the town of 250 residents year round. There doesn't seem to be much here. Historically, a very important town during WWII as a military base was located there. Before we get on board we are assigned to table #15. A table for 6, but we end up having the table all to ourselves. We have a female Captain and since no Naturalist was available today, she did those honors as well as controlling the boat.

Right after we depart the harbor, the sun comes out and the blue sky comes in! Wow, it turns into a really gorgeous day. Since this area was very near the epicenter of the 1964 Earthquake, we were shown evidence of this in the Matchstick Forest, created by the upheaval of land and from the Tsunami that covered the area and killed the trees with the salt water. The trunks still stand today.

As we continue on, now in Port Wells, we happen on the Kittiwake Rookery. This is a type of Gull and they come here to nest because they can do that on the steep rocks, away from their predators.

We saw many glaciers on the East and West sides of the Sound; named on the West side for Women's Universities and on the East Side for Men's Universities.

And now, dinner is served: Prime Rib, Silver Salmon, Rice Pilaf, Mandarin orange salad, and sourdough bread. Yummy. The Silver Salmon was terrific. O.K., so was the Prime Rib!

We now pass along the College Fjord and around into Barry Arm. As we drive into it we start seeing chunks of ice in the water; we're starting to feel like we're on the Titanic! At the end of Barry Arm we are introduced to a huge glacier, the Surprise Glacier. There are a few sea otters lying around on the ice. We are stopped there for about 20 minutes and were fortunate enough to see a couple calvings - too fast for the camera though. Headed back from Surprise Glacier, we pass Harriman Fjord with more glaciers. And it's just one waterfall after another on the entire sailing.

Through Esther Passage, a very narrow passage that doesn't allow many ships to go through because of size. Out into Port Wells again and stop at the Salmon Hatchery. Right before that we see a lot of Sea Lions on a rock island, just lazing the day away. We had a nice surprise in that we saw two Bald Eagles swooping and fishing, one of them flew up to her nest. That was a real exciting part of the trip.

The crew let us know that dessert is served! It's buffet style as was the main dinner, AND it's all you can eat! Dessert was chocolate chunk brownies and cheesecake and mixed fruit of pineapple, mango, and pears. They really treated us right!

On the way to return through the tunnel, we have to wait for a train. That was fun.

The whole day was about the splendor of it all and we hope that the pictures tell the story.

Staying 2 more nights

Next stop: Tolsona Wilderness Campground/AK