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Access to Whittier from land is only through this tunnel shared with the railroad. Consult the schedule to know what time it will be open to cars and in which direction. Be patient, and allow plenty of time.
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The weather for today was predicted to be glorious, so we had decided to take advantage of it and drive the 30 minutes to Whittier and take a boat to see the glaciers in Prince William Sound. After checking them out online, we decided to go with 26 Glaciers. They boast a guarantee against sea-sickness as they speed you 140 miles on this 5 hour cruise, viewing wildlife as well as countless glaciers. ( were there 26? )
To get to Whittier we had to go through a 2 mile railway tunnel that is still operating, so we had to check the train schedule to see when they allow traffic to pass.
The crew was extremely friendly, taking pictures and answering questions. A US Forest Ranger explained the history of the area as the Captain navigated the fjords, turning the boat in circles so we all could see particularly interesting sights.
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The ship picked up these kayakers ( fellow crew members ) that had spent the night camping on the glaciers. That sounds really chilly, but awesome!
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When the glaciers meet the sea, it is so stunning
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Unfortunately we didn’t see any glaciers calving, but saw cute sea otters floating along, and a sea lion or two basking on chunks of ice. We spoke with many interesting people, had the inclusive lunch, and basked in the sunshine as we tried to take in the magnificence.
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The Captain allowed us to come into the wheelhouse, some even sat in a navigation chair for pictures. The crew was so very nice.
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A panoramic photo of just one of dozens of glaciers here in Prince William Sound.
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The crew scooped an ice chunk out of the bay for us to put in our drinks. I didn't dare try it. I like my ice highly filtered against bacteria.
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There was a huge rookery of white-tipped kitty hawks on the hillside.
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We learned from the fellow sitting at our table about the Tidal Bore just minutes from our place in Turnagain Arm. What is a Tidal Bore, and what makes this one so special?
Well, a bore tide is technically a rush of seawater that returns to a shallow and narrowing inlet from a wide bay. The tides must be in an extreme minus, created by a new or full moon. There are about 60 of them worldwide, but only a few big enough to have a name. This one climbs up to 6-10 feet and moves 10-15 mph.
Another Tidal Bore we saw was in Truro, Nova Scotia which was only a few inches tall at the time and worthy of it's name. Boring.
We drove to a highway pull-off near where we were told to go, and found a parking lot full of spectators, Stand up paddle boarders ( SUP )and surfboards. There was an air of suspense and excitement as we awaited “the wave” to arrive around 7:45PM. There were 4 SUP riders that managed to stay on about 1/4 mile as they came to us before the wave ate them up. The excitement was over in minutes, and the surfers will have to wait another month for the next "big wave".
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The surfers had all just fallen. They are in this wave somewhere!
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Togetherness.
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