Sometimes, it’s all about the expectations. Expect a lot, sometimes you’re disappointed. Expect nothing, sometimes you’re pleasantly surprised. Today, we were pleasantly surprised. We visited a small town called Whittier. We hiked, we met some fun residents, we learned lots of history about the place, we toured the marina, we had absolutely marvelous weather and a beautifully sunny day. Funny, the usual saying about Whittier is: it’s ‘Sh_tt_er in Whittier’ but we decided that it’s much ‘Prettier in Whittier.’
But, the history first. Skip the next 4 paragraphs if you want to avoid this and begin with the trip through the tunnel.
Whittier is a small area surrounded by inpenetrable 3500’ mountains, on a deep water port and usually clouded over. Can't get there? Can't see it? ‘Perfect’ the army said. ‘We can build a secret port here.’ And they ‘created’ Whittier as a ‘secret’ port and petroleum delivery center for bases up north during WWII. Who would ever know it was here? A 2 1/2 mile supply tunnel was blasted out of solid granite, the largest building in Alaska,the Buckner building, was built to house 1000 soldiers and, voila, a small town was born. Whittier was also very useful during the Cold War being as close to Russia as it was. At this point the 15-story Begich Towers was built. The town continued to be strategically valuable until 1960 when the army left.
Well, what about Whittier? What now? Tourists.
Now the town is strategically important for the tourist trade via large cruise ships which dock daily and load their passengers up onto buses for touring Alaska. All those Princess Cruise buses we’ve seen all along the road to Denali, originate here. Smaller cruises leave here daily for ocean wildlife and glacier viewing. Lots of tourists.
Remember how isolated Whittier was? The only way to get there was by boat or by train. Well, the last piece to the Whittier puzzle was overhauling the tunnel in 2000 over so that cars could also use it, not just trains. You can go to Whittier for 15 minutes at the half hour, you can go out of Whittier for 15 minutes on at the hour. The other times are reserved for the trains. Oops, if you get to the tunnel after the 11:15 pm closing time you get to sleep in your car all night until it opens in the morning. Pack a blanket in your car. But the bridge opened up the world to the Whittierites (the people call them selves Whittiots) who were not chained to the train schedule any more.
OK, that part’s over. Here’s the story of our day.
We’re off to Whittier, AK today to hike and to explore the town. We can see that the weather might not be the best in Whittier but, we’ve got today to go and we’re going to go. But, first, we’ve got to go through the tunnel.
We got to the tunnel, this house-looking structure at 9:25 and waited for our turn.
Here you can see the one-way road and the train tracks in the middle.
When we got to Whittier, we parked and looked at our map. On one side of the railroad tracks is the marina, some shops, the tourist parking lot and the boat launch. On the other are the Begich Towers, town offices, a grocery store, a museum and a hotel. We went through the tunnel under the rr tracks to town, and began - to hike. First things first. We heard that the Horsetail Falls Trail was not to be missed. We agree. It is a work of art, of craftsmanship of patience and ingenuity. A Boy Scout project several years in the making with helicopters ferrying in the planks, shingles and nails, and a cool trail for all.
Ooh, bears. Lots of vegetation, lots of berries - bears. And, we’ve left our bear spray in the car. Well, my first solution is to talk loudly: ‘here, bear, bear, bear.’ ‘Right over this way, bear, bear, bear.’ ‘Don’t want to miss this, bear, bear, bear.’
Then I sing. Today my song was ‘Day-O’.
‘Come, Mr. Tally Man, Tally me bananas,
Here I come, won’t you carry me home.’
Hey, look, the trail is now single planks running through the underbrush.
‘I see deadly black tarantula
Here I come, won’t you carry me home.’
Hey, no one told me this trail was so long. And so up.
‘Work all day for a drink of rum
Here I come, won’t you carry me home.’
And so forth. Don’t know all the words. But I’m loud and I’m proud.
But, we saw NO bears. Must have worked. (Maybe they were laughing too hard.)
When we got to the top, we met another couple - who had heard me singing for the last 5 minutes. How embarrassing.
What a view - what a payoff. The whole harbor and town spread before us. Prince William Sound below, Horsetail Falls across the canyon and blue sky above. Could it get any better?
The Tustumena, the ‘Trusty Tusty’ is in dock, dropping off passengers and goods while loading up others. This boat travels the length of the Aleutians and Alaskan shore and is a lifeline for many who live along the water without any roads into their communities. I’ve read that a trip down and back along The Aleutians is quite the journey. You can either pay for a cabin (a double costs $311 each way) or pitch a tent on deck (bring duct tape) or throw your sleeping bag down on the floor in the solarium. Power outlets but no wi-fi. A restaurant serving all three meals, a coffee and vending machine.
The trail down is even prettier since now we’re facing the towards the view. And, we saw this cool ptarmigan. He led the way for a few boards but finally realized that we were not his family.
Back in town, along with the other couple (the one at the top of the hike - who heard me singing. They must have felt sorry for Gary) we took a trail towards a cliff over the town. Lots of berries along this route. But, again, a view worth the hike.
Finally, we headed towards the Lin Yiu Park and - wonder of wonders - a bathroom. Whew. Ah, but the park has a special view of the Sound all its own.
And, a kayaker heading out.
WOW, was that a cool hike or what? But now we get to tour Whittier, a pretty cool town. Yep, Whittier couldn’t be prettier.
Fun day. Good hike, great views, cool museum and fun in the one house town. Could it get any better?
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