Wide Open Spaces - Alaska 2009 - Whittier

Whittier Notes

Saturday dawned bright and early for us because we had a BIG day scheduled.  We planned to drive to Whittier making the 9:30 tunnel, turn in our rental vehicle, take a cruise tour of Prince William Sound, and then board the Diamond Princess.......  A really BIG day!!! 

Some background.....  Whittier (pop. 300) is a decommissioned military base that is only accessible by ferry or tunnel.  The tunnel is a 2.5 mile single lane that is shared by trains and automobiles alternating direction every 30 minutes.  The entire population of Whittier lives in two concrete high-rises.  The vehicle return office for Avis was in a combination hardware/baitshop/convenience store.

We were on the road from Seward by 7:00, well ahead of schedule, but we didn't make too many stops along the way out of fear we would miss our tunnel time.  The morning was cool, sunny, with low hanging fog in some of the valleys.  Could have stopped and took photos all morning.  Once we reached the turnoff for Whittier, had enough extra time to make a few stops along the Whittier highway.  The hanging glaciers were beautiful in the morning sunlight and of course, we had to make another salmon viewing platform stop. 

After exiting the tunnel, we checked in with Prince William Sound Glacier Cruises for our 6 hour Wilderness Explorer tour.  I would describe this tour as simply breathtaking!!!  I have separate pages for Prince William Sound and the Diamond Princess.

Middle Glacier

Salmon viewing platform

Alaska - Whittier

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Morning sunlight, mountains, and glaciers......

Alaska - Whittier

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Entering the tunnel.....

Big Momma - Ready to go......

Aproaching the tunnel (2.5 miles at 25mph)

Whittier Tunnel Video (Warning!!! Goober Alert)

Featured pictures

Exiting the tunnel

One of two buildings where everyone lives in Whittier

Some shots of Whittier

Alaska - Whittier

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