Life is Grand: Alaska Marine Highway & Whittier

We left Seward for Valdez around 9. We had to make a 2:00 Alaska Marine Highway ferry out of Whittier. There were a lot of factors that played into our road travel today. We had to check in for the ferry 90 minutes prior to departure, but before that we had to make it through a time metered tunnel, which only let you through every hour. So if we didn’t make it through in the 11:30 time frame, we would be late for our ferry check in! This tunnel we had to go through was so cool. It is 3 miles long and is only one lane wide, which is shared with a railroad track going down the center for a train. I don’t have good photos from in the tunnel because it was so dark. At half past the hour, the east side gets to go through and at the top of the hour the west side gets to travel through. The tunnel is only open 6am – 11pm. If you miss the tunnel closing at night, you had better be prepared to camp.

Creepy is the only word I can use to describe Whittier. 187 people currently reside in Whittier. It used to be a major Army installation during World War II and has since been abandoned by the government. The government built the then two largest buildings in Alaska to house more than 1,000 Soldiers. One building has since been abandoned and looks haunted and overlooks the whole village. The other building has been converted into condos and nearly every person living in Whittier lives in the condo building. It also houses their grocery store, police station, fire station, barber shop and is a hotel.

The ferry ride was so cool. It was cool to put our car on and it was cool to experience. The ferry not only took cars, but it also took RV’s and busses! The ferry could hold 600 linear feet of vehicles. The whole time we were on the ferry, all I could think about is how much my Dad would love this. He told me to be on the lookout for one of his WIM scales at the Valdez ferry station, but we were in such a rush to get our car off, I didn’t get to see it! The ferry ride was the highlight of the trip for me. The water is the most gorgeous blue in this part of Alaska due to glacial silt. It looks like very watered down aqua colored milk.

The ferry was a 7 hour journey from Whittier to Valdez. We saw ice burgs, glaciers, Humpback whales, a pod of Orca whales and some sea lions that were fighting on a booey.

Below are some photos of Whittier and the ferry boarding:

Entrance to Whittier Tunnel

Cars are lined up to go through the tunnel!

Entrance to Whittier Tunnel.

Diving through the tunnel.

Leaving the tunnel.

The abandoned soldiers barracks.

Another view of the abandoned barracks. It looks so ominous!

The converted condos where everyone in Whittier lives.

Passage Canal Fjord

Ferry Boat!

One ferry is leaving and ours is arriving to pick us up!

Driving our car onto the ferry!

Got our car parked. It was a very tight squeeze. We could barely get our doors open.
Our Camry is much larger than that little Yaris parked in front of us!