Finally the drizzle has ended but the rain has begun.  The last few days have been non-stop rain and fog.  The drive from Soldotna to Whittier is absolutely gorgeous even through the clouds.

Glacier

Glacier

We stopped to watch salmon swimming up stream.   There was a fish carcass on the shore that was still wet.  It looked like a bear had recently been there.  We didn’t stay long.

Salmon

Alaska

Alaska

Alaska

Williwaw US Forest Service Campground has been our soaking wet home for two days.  The rain didn’t totally keep us inside, we went to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center at Portage Lake and enjoyed the exhibit rooms and watched a movie about glaciers.

That’s a Big Mosquito

Just kidding, that mosquito is 50x the size of a real one.

The small town of Whittier, population 220, on Prince William Sound, was created by the US Army during WWII as a military base, strategically valuable for its ice-free deep-water port.  Up until June 2000 Whittier was only accessible by boat, plane, or a train that had to go through a 2.5 mile tunnel to the town.  In 2000, the train tunnel was modified to handle both railroad and vehicle traffic.  It’s one lane, and cars and trains take turns traveling through it.

Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel 

Inside the Tunnel

Whittier, AK

Wear Ice Cleats

The military has moved out and now Whittier is a port for cruise ships and container ships, tour boats, and fishing.  There is also an excellent little museum there, a tribute to Alaska’s legends.  The Prince William Sound Museum.  Exhibits cover the town’s history, the tunnel, the railroad, and Cold War military flights–rescue and survival stories.  Very well done and not to be missed.

Prince William Sound Museum

There are hiking trails, but too wet for us, so back to the RV for the rest of the day.

In the morning, still raining, we moved out and are now back in Anchorage for a night.  Now the rain has stopped and we got a glimpse of the sun!