On the road again!

On Wednesday, we decided we had had enough of Anchorage and rented a car to go back down to the Kenai Peninsula for the day. (In true Alaskan fashion, the only vehicle available was a pickup truck.) We spent the day on a boat, touring the glaciers and fjords of Prince William Sound.

The coastal range around Prince William Sound, like the coastal range near Seattle, traps a lot of moisture, and Whittier gets about 200 inches of rain a year. The mountains around it get around 100 feet of snow a year. Consequently, there are a lot of glaciers in this part of the state. The cruise we took showed us 26 named glaciers in the space of 5 hours. Massively impressive mountains of ice.

26 Glacier Tour. Contenders for wall. Whittier Tunnel -single lane shared by cars and train. Potter Marsh -- arctic tern, green-winged teal.

26 Glacier Tour. Contenders for wall. Whittier Tunnel -single lane shared by cars and train. Potter Marsh -- arctic tern, green-winged teal.
Surprise Glacier towers 300 feet above the water (and about the same below).

 

26 Glacier Tour. Contenders for wall. Whittier Tunnel -single lane shared by cars and train. Potter Marsh -- arctic tern, green-winged teal.
Despite the snow, the glaciers are retreating at a rapid rate. These two glaciers are about a mile apart where they enter the Sound. Just 10 years ago, this was a continuous wall of ice. The vegetation line sloping down to the left in the center shows the recent limit of the glacier.

Thursday morning we got the call that our part was in and the rig was fixed! We didn’t need a second offer—after a quick stop to replenish the groceries that had spoiled while the refrigerator was off, we left the traffic of Anchorage behind and headed back north toward Tok. Along the way, we were introduced to yet another glacier, Matsunuka Glacier, the only valley glacier we’ve seen on this trip.

b Matsunuka Glacier

Today (Friday), we’re headed back to the Alaska Highway and back into Canada.

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Solitary Sandpiper