A good early start; had coffee and some biscuits, and then South down the Seward Highway. The scenery is outstanding; the road curves gently through mountains that remind me of both the 5 sisters of Kintail and the Italian Alps. We stop at a roadside place at about 10am for breakfast, in the shadow of the portage glacier, on the shores of Portage lake.......still about 75% covered in ice. There is a road/rail tunnel from here to a place called Whittier.
We drive on to Seward and get there about noon. Real frontier town stuff - bits are new, bits are old and bits are falling down. Rusting cars litter the front yards and I keep half expecting tumbleweed to roll through.
Visit the Alaska sea life centre; big tanks of seals, sea lions and diving seabirds. The whole place tells a very depressing story of population declines.
Drive back north up the Seward Highway and we read about this place called Whittier - a secret harbour that the US Govt. built during the war to get supplies through to the Alaskan interior. They had to cut a 2.5 mile rail tunnel through the mountains to get the supplies away from the coast. Almost all the inhabitants live in a 14 storey block left behind when the Navy pulled out. Very definitely an odd place when we get there. Apart from the inhabited tower block there is the derelict buchner building......a huge concrete eyesore built to withstand earthquakes and house 1,000 men.
We just made it back through the tunnel in time, and drove back to Anchorage, and saw a couple of bald eagles circling above the inlet called Turnagain Arm.
We drive on to Seward and get there about noon. Real frontier town stuff - bits are new, bits are old and bits are falling down. Rusting cars litter the front yards and I keep half expecting tumbleweed to roll through.
Visit the Alaska sea life centre; big tanks of seals, sea lions and diving seabirds. The whole place tells a very depressing story of population declines.
Drive back north up the Seward Highway and we read about this place called Whittier - a secret harbour that the US Govt. built during the war to get supplies through to the Alaskan interior. They had to cut a 2.5 mile rail tunnel through the mountains to get the supplies away from the coast. Almost all the inhabitants live in a 14 storey block left behind when the Navy pulled out. Very definitely an odd place when we get there. Apart from the inhabited tower block there is the derelict buchner building......a huge concrete eyesore built to withstand earthquakes and house 1,000 men.
We just made it back through the tunnel in time, and drove back to Anchorage, and saw a couple of bald eagles circling above the inlet called Turnagain Arm.
Feeling like a seafood dinner, we decided to eat at the Snowgoose restaurant. A delicious meal of shellfish, crab and rice, and a pint of the local brew called 49er. Bar towels from the UK cover all the walls (Harveys, Tanglefoot and Wadworths to name a few). Back to the hostel to look for my tobacco pipe....no sign of it; some damn colonial has pinched it!
Whittier, Prince William Sound
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