Alaska trip - Part V

This is on the East side of the peninsula as one heads back North towards Anchorage.

More of the flowers one sees along side the road.

Lakes with a lone cabin invites one to just stop and spend some time enjoying the solitude.

And for Fran a couple of loons on the lake make it that much more inviting. Didn't hear any loons on our trip but if one spent some time at these lakes in morning or evening I'm sure the loons would be heard.

Heading for our scheduled ferry trip from Whittier to Valdez so we camped Wednesday evening at this campsite. It was raining when we got there but by morning the rain had stopped.

The mountains as one looked out the windshield of our van.

All packed up and ready to hit the road.

We got pretty efficient at converting the van into sleeping quarters. Everything moved into the front seats, curtains went up and we were ready for bed. The reverse happened in morning. Bed made, everything from front seats found their assigned place in back and down came curtains and off we went. About 15 minutes to set up and tear down. Beats having to pack a wet tent etc.

Some of the senery as we drove in towards the tunnel at Whittier.

Lots of ice still in the lakes.

Lined up and waiting for the green light. The direction of traffic through the tunnel changes every 15 minutes but if there is a train that needs to use the tunnel then you could be delayed by up to 1/2 hour. This tunnel is 12 miles long making it the longest in North America. It is the only tunnel in the world where cars and trains share the same roadbed. Cost for single car is $12.00 but motor homes and 5th wheelers pay $35.00

Kind of unique entrance for a tunnel.

Traffic waiting on other side to enter tunnel.

Now that is a tow rope.

Ferry loading when we arrived but not ours.

Car after car of these wind mill blades waiting to be loaded onto barges. not sure where they were going.

Little tour boats came and went as we waited for our ferry. I love being around harbors. Not sure why since I don't like being on any water that isn't frozen solid.

All kinds of fishing boats entering and leaving the harbor.

We thought this was our ferry but it was one that went to Valdez and Cordova. It was booked full when we tried making our reservations. The two hulls probably made it more stable which I would have liked.

Here comes our ferry. Single hull but I didn't even come close to getting seasick even when the ship made turns to avoid icebergs.

Down we go into the ferry.

Doesn't look that big but I'm amazed at how many vehicles they can put on these things.

We had a special spot!! They called out "put this one in the hole". Kinda made me nervous as I didn't know what they meant by hole. Turns out it's the very front of the ship so once it came to unloading we were almost first in line. They exited through a door on the side of the ship so we had to wait until a couple vehicles left so we could backup and exit.

This is the view as we pulled away from the dock at Whittier.

One of several glaciers one can see as you exit the Whittier harbor

Love seeing the different kinds of fishing craft.

Heading out into Prince William Sound. This area is dotted by little islands and often have mountains in the distance. I can see why people got so upset when the oil tanker ran aground. The views are spectacular.

 charter plane flew in front of the ferry.

Looking back out of Prince William Sound.

Dolphins were seen around the ferry but are hard little suckers to catch out of the water. They move so fast.

Sea lions sunning themselves on a beach.

Different beach just to show that they were fairly abundant.

A whale (not sure as to type) swam alongside but never surfaced while I was watching.

If you look real carefully you can just make out the icebergs lining the distant shore.

If you look real carefully you can just make out the tail of the whale breaking the surface.

There were some pretty good sized chungs of ice. With the sun shing on them they were very pretty.

Looking back you can see how the ferry had to change course to get between some of the ice.

Yup that is us.

A couple of sea lions enjoying a snooze. I bet they were females because they are all over that buoy (boy)!!

About to enter the harbor at Valdez.

Just around that point is the town of Valdez and the terminus for the Alaska pipeline.

Come back for Part VI as we travel into the Port of Valdez and then head for home.