Getting Wet in Whittier

(2018 Alaska Ep 35)

We departed on July 9 for Whittier on the Kenai Peninsula (RabbiTRAILS Alaska Map, pt #35).  In August, we will return to Anchorage to pick up our son Phil from the airport.  He’ll spend a week with us as we visit Denali and take a glacier cruise out of Seward.

Our route took us southeast along the shore of the Turnagain Arm.  This bay has the highest tides in the US!  The incoming tide, called a tidal bore, can result in a quickly moving wave up to six feet high!

The tide was going out as we arrived.  We could see broad tidal flats but no tidal bore.  We hope to see the bore when we return to Anchorage or with Phil on the way to Seward.

Our first three nights on the Kenai Peninsula were to be spent dry camping – no electric/water/sewer hookups – at the Williwaw Campground.

We didn’t dry camp.  The next two plus days were continuous rain. We learned rainy weather is common in the area due to moist air moving across the mountains from Prince William Sound.

Because of the rain, we couldn’t use the portable solar panel that keeps our RV battery charged.  The battery power got pretty low by the end of the second day and we had to skip showers until our next stop.

Portage Lake was nearby.  The lake contains runoff from Portage and several other glaciers.  It also contains mini-icebergs that have calved off of Portage Glacier.  When the weather cleared a bit, we hiked to Byron Glacier, one of the nearby glaciers.  Glacial blue ice is remarkable!

From Portage Lake, the road continues through a 2.5 mile tunnel to Whittier.   Trains and cars use the same single-lane tunnel at different times during the day.

We hoped the weather would be nicer on the Whittier side of the tunnel, but it was worse!  We could see the base of the mountains surrounding the town but not the tops!  As it rained, passengers from a cruise ship boarded an Alaska Railroad train that would take them to Anchorage and Denali/Fairbanks.  This is the same train mentioned in our earlier Anchorage blog post.

During WWII, the US Army established Whittier in response to the Japanese capture of several Aleutian Islands.  Whittier also played a role in the post-WWII cold war with Russia.   Buckner Barracks was built and was one of the largest buildings in Alaska at the time.  The Army facility closed in 1960 and the abandoned barracks still dominate the skyline.

Today, most of Whittier lives in another large building – the 14-story Begich Tower.

After two wet days, the sun finally came out and we enjoyed a fantastic view of Portage Lake.As we left, we reflected on two wet days in the area.  We now refer to Whittier as wettier and we find the meaning of Williwaw to be rather ironic.  A williwaw is a sudden violent squall blowing offshore from a mountainous coast.

Ahead – we learn what all the spitting is about in Homer…