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Published: September 9th 2013
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Explorer glacier overlooking Portage Creek Rain fell heavily during the night but come morning there was just a drizzle of rain and the sun was peaking out from behind the clouds.
We took a couple of short hikes around our camp area still admiring the closeness of the surrounding glaciers and the sparkling colour of the water.
Visited the Begich and Boggs visitors centre named after 2 United States House of Representatives leaders who disappeared on an airplane en route to Juneau. No trace of the men or the aircraft was ever found.
From here we drove out to the Whittier Tunnel where we needed to be ready to go through this amazing 1 lane tunnel
at 10.30am. The Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel is a 2.5 mile World War II era railroad tunnel which was transformed into the longest vehicle railroad in North America in June 2000. It is named after the army engineer who supervised the construction of the rail spur through Maynard Mountain. Cost to go through the tunnel is $12 for a car, $20 for RV. You only pay when entering the tunnel from the Portage side. It was a pretty neat experience.
Ready to cruise on the
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selfie at the salmon viewing area on the Portage creek "26 glacier cruise" The Klondike Express. 12.30 to 5.30pm. $139 per person with lunch of fish and chips provided as well as tea and coffee during the cruise. Alcholic drinks available to purchase at reasonable prices.
Today's journey took us 145 miles through rugged wilderness, towering glaciers and pristine waters of Prince William Sound. The Sound is 2,100 square miles of islands and fjords, carved by 15 million years of glaciations and surrounded by the Chugach National Forest. Prince William Sound is the northern most temperate rainforest in the world.
There are 85,000 glaciers in Alaska and only 616 are named. Today was cloudly which is good for bringing out the blue colour of the glaciers. They certainly were magnificent.
The journey took us near the epicentre of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake that measured 9.2 on the Richter scale. First stop was at Perry Island where we were able to photograph a harem of stellar sea lions.We cruised to Barry Arm and Surprise Glacier located in the Harriman Fjord. The route took us past 3 types of glaciers that are found in Alaska - tidewater, piedmont and hanging glaciers. We saw Surprise glacier calve making a
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Entrance to the Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel thunderous sound as huge chunks of ice fell into the ocean. It was a sight to see harbour seals floating around on icebergs. Otters were also cruising around in between the ice. It certainly was a great day. Weather was overcast and not too cold. We sat next to another Aussie couple so we had a good chat comparing holiday itinerary's.
Finished off the day doing a 2mile round hike to Byron Glacier. This was a good hike with grand views of the glacier. There was dead ice next to the glacier which we had a walk on. found some bear tracks on the ice as well. There were a few other people hiking this track so we felt a lot more "bear safe".
Tonight we are heading back to Anchorage.
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