Anchorage, Alaska: Wildlife in the City and Daytrippin’

We decided to stay in Anchorage and make a couple of day trips to other areas.  We did not even slightly enjoy Anchorage.  You see, we had finely honed our skills in finding the absolute worst section of town to stay in, and we’d practiced this almost everywhere we’d been.  I don’t think this mattered much in Anchorage – the whole city had an unsettling vibe to both of us (in contrast to Fairbanks which felt just fine).  Both hotels we stayed at were centered amongst a mix of the more treacherous elements of society, which kept us even more alert and vigilant than we already are normally.  The shady characters and their erratic behaviors we saw – loitering, random and not-so-random wandering, arguments, unintelligible mutterings to themselves – made me think I might rather take my chances with the bears!  Perhaps the Jeep was our saving grace, looking like a safari vehicle ready for the zombie apocalypse, with an axe and shovel mounted on the roof rack and who-knows-what on the inside.  At the very least, it doesn’t look like a vehicle that would be driven by gentle, timid, unsuspecting folks!  Arriving hungry and late in the day, we hastily chose a hotel on the fringes of downtown for the first night.  We promptly got out of Dodge in the morning, and proceeded to settle into our second hotel in the next expertly selected bad section of town.  Once that was accomplished, we drove to Eklutna Lake to see what the campgrounds were like, and it is a beautiful little spot.

On the way out of the park, this black bear meandered across the road in front of us, continuing on into the woods.

From there, we explored a couple more areas, and re-stocked our supplies before going back to the hotel.  Upon checking the weather forecast, we found the next several days would bring rain most of the time… as in all day every day!  Much to our dismay, this solidified our decision to stay “camped” another day in a hotel.

Our next excursion took us to Whittier, with a stop at Wild West Guns – from the Discovery show Wild West Alaska – on the way.  The drive along the Seward Highway is beautiful, even in rainy weather, as it winds along between the base of the mountains and the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet.

Whittier is a small city with a population of only around 200 people on the Kenai Peninsula, nestled in a bay of Prince William Sound.  The only road in brings you through the two and a half mile-long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, the longest highway tunnel in North America.  The one-lane tunnel accommodates cars and trains alternately in both directions, with a speed limit of 25 mph, and it takes about ten minutes to drive through.  Traffic is allowed through (after paying a $12 toll) every thirty minutes.  I know you want to see the inside, so take a little ride through the tunnel with us!

There are several choices of recreational activities to embark upon from Whittier, including hiking, kayaking, fishing, and even taking a cruise.

We had no such glorious intentions so long as the intermittent rain and wind persisted.  Our stay was fairly brief, and after walking around the harbor for a bit, we got in line to go back through the tunnel, observing the glacier while we waited.

On the other side, we stopped at the visitor center on Portage Lake to get pictures of the iceberg we’d passed on the way through.  It was a beautiful shade of blue which is not done justice by my photos!

From there we headed back toward Anchorage, admiring the rugged landscape along the Seward Highway.

We saw two people wind surfing – quite an unexpected sight considering the unpleasant weather, although they certainly had plenty of wind!

You can view the rest of the photos here.