Today we drove from Soldotna to Waliweep NFS Campground near Portage Glacier. This was a phenomenal campground. Most NFS campgrounds are gravel, smallish sites, not very level. This campground had all paved roads, all paved and level campsites. Usually, there are very few pull-thrus. We prefer pull-thrus so when we get done touring for the day we can hitch up and be ready to go first thing in the morning. I went around the loop and the very last campsite was a pull-thru and no one had reserved it.
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| Campground urrounded by mountains and glaciers |
Once we were settled we drove to Whittier through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. This tunnel is a 2.5-mile tunnel that was a train tunnel. Still is a train tunnel but was expanded and enhanced to support car traffic and allow Whittier to be connected to mainland AK. There is a toll and the tunnel is open from 5:30 AM to 11:15 PM, an enforced curfew for the town. Going through the tunnel is similar to riding a ferry. Everyone lines up in specific lanes, car, RV, truck. When th time comes the gate is lifted and off we go in lane order.
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| All lined up, ready to go through tunnel |
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| Tunnel Entrance |
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| Train waiting to go through |
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| Driving thrugh the tunnel |
Driving through the tunnel is different and challenging. Lighting isn’t the greatest, you need to stay off of the train tracks and it is not the widest tunnel. Traffic to Whittier goes through the tunnel on the half-hour and back on the hour. A train throws the schedule off.
Whittier is known as the wettest town in AK. Dark and dreary while we were there for the afternoon. We did find a Fudge shop for Tom and I found an ice cream parlor and had Huckleberry Ice Cream. Tasted like a cross between a weak Black Raspberry with some Blueberry thrown in.
The next day we went to the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge what takes in and cares for injured wild animals. We went early and this was a good thing. As we were leaving 2 tour buses were pulling in with more coming down the road.
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| Such a pastoral scene |
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| Magpie |
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| Elk seem interested in the cart |
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| Scenery is always great |
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| Ah!!! Feeding time |
From there we went to Girdwood and thought about taking the Gondola to the top of the mountain but it was very smokey so gave up on that. Did some basic shopping and went back to camp for lunch.
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| This store knows its true self |
After lunch we went to the Begich Boggs Visitor Center at Portage Glacier. A very interesting museum that walked you through the history of the area and cumulated with a movie about the glacier. At the end of the movie, the curtains open up for a view over the lake to the glacier. Years(many) ago the glacier was much closer. This was impressive but if the glacier had been closer this would have been spectacular.
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| Visitor Center Greeter |
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| Portage Glacier |
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