Homer to Valdez, AK via Whittier and Prince William Sound

Off we went on a new adventure today! The views of the bay as we left Homer were phenomenal. We traveled back on Hwy 1 to the Seward Highway and took a right on the Whittier/Portage Glacier access road. This little road is short, but it packs a scenic punch! The road stops in a parking lot, essentially, where you are surrounded on all sides by glaciers. If you look carefully, there is a tiny tunnel at the end of the parking lot. For $12, you can take a 2 1/2 mile trip through a mountain to Whittier, AK, on the other side! You must pay attention in the single-lane tunnel if riding a motorcycle--the passage goes along a train track and if your wheel gets stuck in one of the gaps, you are done for and may never be seen again--that is why the motorcycles have to wait to go last--I suspect that there is quite a record of motorcycle carnage in the tunnel...

On the other side is the town of Whittier. It began as a strategic port in WWII. The reason that it was chosen as such was that 95% of the time, it is hidden by cloud cover. Not today! I am pretty sure at this point I have used up all of my good-luck-with-the-weather tokens for this lifetime.

We took the slow ferry (pictured above) through Prince William Sound. It is a 6 hour ride and every moment of it was spectacular, as the weather was perfect. You can see the Chugach Range to the north the entire trip. Highlights included seeing a humpback whale, seals, massive snow-covered peaks, icebergs, and the enormous Columbia Glacier.


Above is the view as we left Whittier. It just got better from there.


Here is the Columbia Glacier. It is the second-fastest moving glacier in the world, progressing at an amazing 80 feet a DAY!

Prince William Sound is a treasure. Spent the night at Valdez Glacier Campground.

Odometer: 6454 miles, with a 75 mile ferry ride