Whittling Away Time in Whittier

 Whittier, Alaska has a reputation for being quite literally cut off from the rest of the world.  In fact, there are a lot of places in Alaska like that.  And there is something about just exactly that that keeps the residents, well, resident   These are not places for the plastic of pop culture...Kardashian watchers are in short demand, but bird watchers seem to have some representation.

Sometimes the scenery here is so big, and when you are looking across an expansive range that goes for miles and miles, you forget how many animals are just hanging out doing their thing in the background.  A zoom lens on a small section of rock near this waterfall shows just what we are missing.  Sometimes the big picture is actually in the smallest pixel of the whole view.

Somehow I didn't think "waterfall" when I first started thinking of Alaska.  But waterfalls, big and small, sprout up everywhere here.

Whittier is surrounded, by water, mountains, and the world outside.  But it manages to keep it all at bay somehow.

I look forward to returning this summer, to go back to the little pub in the hotel and watch the light glint off the waters again, and maybe take that same boat ride out to see some more otters and seals, and maybe a whale fin or two.

Whittier

Next stop on Siobhan's tour of the Anchorage area -- Whittier Alaska.  Whittier has been the topic of a blog before.  It is such an unusual little town.  Located in Prince William Sounds, its harbor was important as a supply route in WW2, and today is a popular cruise ship destination.  A railway tunnel through the mountain connected Whittier to the inland in 1943.  But the town was not accessible by road until 2000.  Notably this road is shared with the trains, as cars entering Whittier drive over the tracks, and through the mountain tunnel once an hour.  The rest of the time is reserved for the trains.

Whittier has a little welcome sign by the main town building that sums up the important events...the rain record, managers and harbourmasters...not sure where those 19 roads are, unless they count mountain goat footpaths.

This is the main town building.  Whittier is called a one roof town...as this large building from the 1950's houses most of the towns 217 or so people, the post office, the school, the rec center, and everything else that one might want indoors to avoid going outside in the winter.  When it was built, it was the largest building in Alaska.  Today it's a condominium.

And the post office is still there.  Shibby sent some postcards from this unique little town.

There is a new...er building in town though, the Inn at Whittier.  This is a beautiful,waterfront hotel.  We stopped in for a light snack and a beer before embarking on our tour.  Strangely, we were almost the only people there, despite the fact that hundreds of people were cued up for the boat tours that would leave that afternoon.  I highly recommend leaving the crowd behind and having a lunch/coffee/beverage here if you find yourself in Whittier.

This is the view from the restaurant.

Oh, and this is also the view from the restaurant.  It was just stunning.  The harbour is every bit as pretty as Bermuda's.

Whittier is a fishing town.  Someone is off to find their supper.

The calm of the water, the warmth of the sun, and a zesty pint of Alaska amber ale...aaaah, one of the best moments of the adventure so far!

Yup, Alaskan Amber is the name.  Here is the logo, in that cozy little restaurant-pub I mentioned a few lines ago.  I think it would be a fun place to read a book on a cold winters day.

Lots and lots of boats!  The one we were going to be getting on was going to be a bit bigger than these.

One more tourist shot -- Shibby under the Alaskan flag.

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue

Alaska's flag.  May it mean to you

The blue of the sea, the evening sky

The mountain lakes, and the flowers nearby

The gold of the early sourdough's dreams

The precious gold of the hills and streams

The brilliant stars in the northern sky

"The Bear," "The Dipper,"  and, shining high

The great North Star with its steady light

Over land and sea a beacon bright

Alaska's flag to Alaska's dear.

The simple flag of a last frontier.

--the State Song of Alaska

Portage Glacier

Just west of Whittier was another spot Sharon and Dave pulled over to show me...Portage.  Portage is sort of a place that was but is no more.  The town of Portage was basically destroyed and abandoned after the 9.2 earthquake in 1964.  People around here still refer to the area as Portage, but there is no town...just a park area.  From this site in 1958 you could walk to the base of the Portage Glacier.  The park where I stand in the photo below was set up by the parks service in 1968 to view the glacier.  But you can no longer see the glacier from here.  Today the glacier has receded so far that it can't be seen from the park designed to access it.  In the summer, you can take a boat trip to see it.  I think I will do that this summer while the opportunity still exists.

 

Less than 50 years ago, the Portage glacier would have filled much of this view

From the parking area, this area actually looked like solid but cracked ice.  Up close it was mostly ice...but the blocks were not continuous and had obviously moving against each other, over and under other ice blocks, with moving water in between.  I found it really pretty.  It was also a reminder of how strong nature is as well, as the pavement at the level of the ice had also been heaved around by freeze and thaw cycles and was cracked torn away from the plane it was originally built on.  It also felt very cold...the wind coming off the icy water was chilling.  I took a few quick snapshots and bolted back to the car.

yup...big ice cubes

Spring here is called breakup...referring to the ice.

After looking out at all the ice towards where a glacier hides, it was neat to turn 180 degrees and see a forest waiting for spring just a few feet away.  Yup.  I think I am going to like this place.

Our next stop was back to Girdwood.  Girdwood is where the local ski resort is and it's a town with a neat feel.  We went for a yummy lunch at Chair 5 (where I learned you can buy a beer called Moose Drool), a very cozy, log cabin ski chalet cross that I would definitely like to visit again.  Sharon and Dave made a few quips that have me thinking the town is full of happy hippies and ski bums, so it may well be one of America's happiest places.  After Chair 5, we headed over to Grinds coffee shop, where I saw this guy...

And after that we stopped by the local radio station where Sharon volunteers as a DJ, 88.9 KEUL.  I joked that I could head up their heavy metal hour, and she said I most certainly could.  I always wanted my own radio show...I might have a new hobby! 

It was an afternoon well spent!  I am very thankful to have some old friends in my new hometown.  Even though it has been several years since our paths crossed, Stan, Sharon, and Dave laid out the welcome mat when I arrived...and one thing I am learning about Alaskans, is they like to be first...so that welcome mat is HUGE!  Thank you guys for helping me feel at home!

I got Whittier...but not wittier

 

Since it was a weekend and there was no government paperwork to do, I took up Sharon and Dave's offer to go and see the town of Whitter.  This came about because Sharon sent me the link for a casting call for extras in a movie set to film in the town in April.  I was interested in checking out what a casting call looked like, but I didn't want to actually stand around and attempt to be a movie extra.  Sharon felt the same way so we decided to just go out to Whittier where the movie would film.  So this is Whittier.

 

It's a neat little place to get through.  It in not technically accessible by a 24/7 road.  To get to Whittier, you can take the marine highway aka ferry, your own private boat, a passenger train, or you can do what we did...drive through the tunnel on the train tracks.  Fear not, it is set up this way and for timed intervals on the half hour, vehicles can drive one way through the 2 mile long tunnel, and entry is controlled by gates and staff, so you won't meet a yahoo half way through coming the wrong way.  Or a train.  For future visitors, the toll at this gate is $12 per car.

Once on the other side it's a good idea to keep track of time, because you can only pass though the tunnel in a 15 min interval every 30 or 60 minutes, if you miss your interval you will have to wait it out.  Dave said that years ago if you wanted to go to Whittier, the cars were loaded onto the train itself you rode through the tunnel in your car on the train.  That would have been neat too!

On the day we went, it was very grey, drizzling rain, and kind of chilly.  Perfect photograph weather!  The docks were full, even in February, and there are a lot of local fishing boats ready for summer!

There were a couple of souvenir shops and restaurants, but most was closed up in the off season.  The town used to be a military base, and the old abandoned barracks will be good for the movie, especially if it's a horror flick!  It is a very small town -- 19 square miles and 177 people.  Recall that little Bermuda was 21 square miles and more than 60,000 people.  Alaska definitely has room to breathe!

On the way out of Whittier, I snapped a shot through the side window of a little Alaska train...I presume this is what I will be spending a weekend touring on in the not so distant future.