Day 77: Whittier and a Bear

June 30 2014

Well, today started with excitement in our campsite. We decided to have pancakes for breakfast with some of our smoked sausage that we grilled Saturday. We talked about doing it outside – remember how much we love breakfast outside in nature. However, it was cloudy, a little windy and just a little too cool this morning so we wimped out and decided to eat inside. As we were cooking the smoke alarm went off – as it frequently does if we don't have the fan on – so we turned on the exhaust fan. Just as we were finishing breakfast Scout alerted to something and went to the window over by the door. We looked out and at first didn't see anything and then looked down a little and there was a black bear on our steps – standing up with his paws on the side of Fred. When he saw us he stepped down and started walking toward the back of the rig. We opened the door just a little to get a picture and he turned around and just looked at us. He was not aggressive at all, but also not afraid of us. Max said – “Hey, Bear” and he turned and walked off. Guess he liked the aroma of our breakfast. Fortunately there were no scratches in our paint but you can definitely see the paw prints in the dust on the side of the rig (yes we know it needs washing but haven't been anywhere where they allow it.) This appeared to be the same bear that was in our campsite yesterday. It appears to be a yearling that was probably just kicked out by it's mom. He appears to be hungry, looking for food, but unfortunately if he doesn't leave this area and keeps coming into the campsites the rangers will probably be called and that probably wouldn't end well for the bear. We have heard they don't relocate bears here – but that didn't come from a ranger. Anyway – about and hour later he walked back through our campsite but didn't stop.

Hey, Bear!

Knock, Knock

Second time around

After our morning excitement, we left for Whittier, AK. From our campsite, Whittier is only about 7 miles. There are 2 tunnels to go through. The first is just a small one but then the next one is the 2.5 mile long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel and is shared with the Alaska Railroad for whom the tunnel was first built. Passage costs $12.00 for autos, more for RVs, trucks, etc. They only charge for going to Whittier – no charge for leaving (does that mean they want to be sure you leave??). It is a one lane tunnel but there is an 8 lane staging area on each side of the tunnel. The railroad goes through on its schedule and otherwise vehicular traffic goes through changing directions every 30 minutes. The tunnel is the longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America at 13,300 feet. It has jet engine powered exhaust fans so it is noisy, too.

Whittier is a very small town built by the US government during WWII. It seems to revolve around the harbor/Prince William Sound. Cruise ships dock here and there is a large fishing industry. There are only 2-300 permanent residents and they all live basically in 2 highrise buildings. On this cloudy, dreary day the town seems drab and dull. Whittier receives about 240 inches of rain/year and up to 20 feet of snow. Yes, it rained today – no snow but it was noticeably colder on that side of the tunnel.

We know you are probably tired of eagle pictures and we didn't plan to take any more. But when one flies straight at the windshield then suddenly perches on a tree in front of you - and poses, we just had to take a couple more (plus or minus 55).

 

One of our main reasons for going to Whittier was to hike the Portage Pass trail. It is a 2 mile hike with a view of Portage Glacier as the end reward. The glacier has receded to the point you can no longer see it from the Visitors Center so this is a good way to see the glacier and it is an impressive one. Portage Pass was used by those coming to Alaska in the 1890s looking for gold. It is has a beautiful Alpine appearance with patches of wild raspberries and blue berries but sadly not yet ripe – although our fruit eating dog didn't seem to mind. Today due to the low clouds and rain pictures were not very good and views less than we would have liked.

Less than optimal view of Portage Glacier and Lake

A little better view

If we have another sunny day while in the area, we might go back to Whittier and the Portage Pass Trail again. Of course, when we returned to the Williwaw side of the tunnel the rain stopped and the sun was trying to break through. We stopped back by the Visitors Center to stamp our National Park Passport and let Scout swim with an "iceberg" in Portage Lake. It is now 8:30 pm and we have blue sky and bright sunshine.

We haven't seen anything of our bear visitor since our return. Rest assured we are carefully checking all windows for the little fellow each time before we go out.