We are taking the The Alaska Rail Road to Whittier and then boarding a boat to partake in a 5 hour Glacier Discovery tour. We are using a 2 for 1 coupon out of our Alaska Tour Saver Book.
Today is a gray, cloudy, rainy, 50 degree day. Listening to the local news yesterday, even the locals are tired of not having spring or I mean summer yet. I’m going to try and write our blog on my phone as we go today. We’ll see how that works.
As we leave the station, the narrator on the train points out all the small aircraft that are lined up in the back yards along the railroad track. There is private grass landing strip that was grandfathered in by the city. Only 30% of Alaskan towns are accessible by road, thus 1 in 70 Alaskans are pilots. Lots of small aircraft. Only 25% of Alaskan road are paved.
Leaving the 300k+ people behind in Anchorage by rail is ok by us. Anchorage represents 41% of Alaska’s population as we head south to Whittier.
This is a whistle stop train. Meaning, the people that live out in bush can have the train stop in the middle of nowhere to off load themselves and supplies. As we head south we are flanked by mountains on the left and the Turnagain Arm (a waterway, part of the Cook Inlet) on the right. The clouds are lifting some so we can see the snow capped mountains. Not much wildlife to be seen so far. There were some allusive Dall Sheep on the side of the mountain but we could not get a picture. As soon as I typed this we saw a mamma moose and calf chomping on some brush?.
There is a shared 2.5 mile one lane tunnel (2nd longest tunnel in North America) on the 12 mile railway that connects Whittier to Portage. When traveling by auto, the direction thru the tunnel is alternated by the half hour and when no trains are coming !
The first glacier we saw, was the “Explorer Glacier” on our right just before the tunnel. The glacier ice was nice and blue and were told by the on train narrator that on a cloudy day the ice is more blue as the sun does not wash the color out.
After a leisurely 2.5 hour train ride through awesome scenery we arrived at Whittier. We deboarded the train and walked crossed the tracks to the harbor to catch the 77 foot catamaran for our 5 hour glacier sightseeing cruise.
Just like the train ride, there is a tour guide narrating the boat trip. Very interesting as we are learning about geology, glaciers, and wildlife.
The highlight of the tour is seeing the face of two tidewater glaciers up close. The Captain of the boat took us within 300 yards of the face of both the Blackstone and the Beloit glaciers. Huge glaciers. Lots of waterfalls cascading down the massive cliffs and mini icebergs floating around waiting to sink a ship…
It was cool to hear the thunderous sounds of the ice breaking (calving) from the face of the glacier and falling into the water below. Awesome sights and sounds. Seeing the glaciers was really cool. There are so large, blue, with many cracks and crevasses. Waterfalls galore. It was amazing to see them to think of their history and their future.
That 200 year old ice was the result of the 100 inch annual acclimation of snow forever. One of the crew onboard scooped up some of the floating glacier ice for all of us to look, taste, feel, and drink. Yep global warming is among us. Just think how mad you would be if the snow in your yard lasted 200 years.
We saw a Bald eagle on a cliff next to a waterfall, overlooking a very rambunctious flock of birds circling around like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
We also saw a few sea otters chilling in the water like a bunch of teenagers out of view of their parents.
The train ride back to Anchorage was a quiet one. We did meet a Full Timing couple who have been on the road for almost 7 years. They told us about the Habitat For Humanity building projects across the country using RV’ers like ourselves as a volunteer labor. They provide a spot to park and you work 10 out of 14 days. Sounds kinda cool we may check into it sometime.
We finally saw some Dall Sheep hanging out on top of the rocky mountain.
Even though it was cloudy and rainy all day, it did not dampen our Intrepid Travels. A very nice day, it was good to get home.
Hey guys!! It looks like you had a awesome day!! The boat ride up to a glacier was my favorite excursion we did! You have some great pictures!! Can’t wait to see them all.
Thanks Delores. Yes, we had a great time! It was amazing being right in front of those big chunks of ice!