JULY 18 Day 62 Portage Valley, AK
We woke up to sun AGAIN! I can't believe how many beautiful days we've had. It's a rare day that the Whittier glacier cruise doesn't have lots of cloud, and often times, rain.
We made the 10:30 tunnel crossing. In order to get to the port, the third busiest port in Alaska, you have to go through a shared-use tunnel. Cars going toward Whittier can enter in a 15-minute window at every time with a 30 minutes on the end, e.g. 10:30. Then trains have it for 15 minutes until the hour. Then cars returning from Whittier use it on the hour. It works very well. You drive on the train tracks. The only possible problem is exiting. Signs indicating to remember to keep to the left probably mean that some fools have continued on the tracks instead of going onto the paved road. Cost was $12.
We parked in the first cruise parking lot (cost $12), but there is a parking lot further down that is $5. A bald eagle was circling overhead, showing everyone the salmon he had caught. He returned about 5 minutes later with an encore performance. Was it the same salmon? Did he deliver the first one to a nest? Is it even the same bald eagle? I think so.
The Ticket Office and gangplank are right at the parking lot--very convenient. We opted for top-deck enclosed seating, and it was a wise choice. The whole catamaran has walkways outside.
Captain Laura's first stop was the Salmon Hatchery. NPS Ranger James told us that the profits from the hatchery are used for increasing the numbers of fish in Alaska. There were lots of boats with nets strewn across the mouth of the river, and we wondered how any got up the stream to spawn. (Picture 1) There are weirs that count the fish coming upstream, and if there aren't enough making it, they shut down the fishing. Each boat has a permit, which this year cost $160,000. Some years they cost more; others they cost less. They can be bought, sold, and inherited. They fish by stretching out these big nets using a small boat, then they pull up the nets. There is one larger refrigerated boat that they off-load their catch onto, where it is weighed, and they are given a receipt.
In 1899 Edward Harriman, a powerful man who controlled many railroads, (grandfather of future Alaska Governor Averill) was exhausted. He was told by his doctor that he needed to go on a long vacation. So he decided to go to Alaska to hunt Kodiak bears. He decided to take along with him a scientific community to document and explore the coastline of Alaska. He contacted Clinton Merriam, a high administrator at the USDA, and one of the founders of the National Geographic Society, and told him that he would cover all the expenses of experts to join him. Merriam gathered together 25 of the world's most prominent scientists-- John Muir and William Dahl, James Audubon to draw pictures, Arctic experts, botanists, ornithologists, zoologists, geologists, and a medical team to go on a 2-month expedition to Alaska. (Of course, Merriam put his name at the head of the list of people to go.) They discovered 600 new species and charted their geographic distribution and had covered over 900 miles of Alaska coastline. They discovered an unmapped fjord (which he named Harriman Fiord) and named lots of glaciers. In Seward, our destination glacier was Northwestern, named after his favorite college.
Harriman had a 250-foot-long steamship refitted for the trip. It had lecture rooms, an organ, a grand piano, a library with over 500 books about Alaska, a stable for animals including a cow (for milk), 5 cases of champagne, taxidermy studios, and luxury staterooms for the experts.
There were many long-lasting benefits of this expedition as well. At first, John Muir thought Harriman was distasteful and thought his hunting was barbaric. By the end of the trip, the two had become friends. Years later Harriman helped Muir with governmental lobbying on National Park legislation, and Muir gave the eulogy at Harriman's funeral.
Glaciers were the focus of the cruise, and the first ones we saw were the Seven Sisters, named after 7 women's colleges on the East Coast. The three which remain today are Holyoke, Baltimore, and Barnard. (Picture 2) Pretty sad, isn't it? We saw many thousand gulls on this trip (that is NOT an exaggeration) , and there were islands full of nests. Some shared their islands with seals (Picture 3), who was welcomed by his friends who were basking on this wonderful day. (Picture 4)
Ranger James said it's unusual to see a floatplane out on Prince William Sound. He was stopped between two commercial fishing boats. A doctor? A rich fisherman? The Boss? (Picture 5)
Our first glacier was prettier than any we saw out of Seward. (Picture 6) As we approached our second glacier, there was a tidal glacier (Picture 7) and a pretty cirque glacier (circular) (Picture 8) Surprise Glacier, was named by Harriman because they didn't see it until they came around a curve in the bay. It had the prettiest glacier blue. (Picture 9) We knew that beneath all glaciers there is a running river, but the amount of water in these beautiful ribbon waterfalls as they flowed down the mountain near it was impressive. (Picture 10)
We didn't see many seals on this trip. But, when we did see them, there were a lot of them! (Picture 11)
Ranger James said this was the biggest iceberg he's seen in his several years of doing marine tours and fishing commercially. (Picture 12) He said it probably calved yesterday. Oh, how I wish I'd been here to see and hear it. He said that they calve 24/7, so it could have happened in the wee hours of the morning when no one would see it. It is over 30 feet tall, and that's only the 15% that's above water. There's another 250 feet plus under the water! To be defined as an iceberg, it must be have 15 feet above the waterline, either horizontally or vertically.
We came across some more seals, but they are shy. At first they observe (Picture 13), then they give you the look that says, "GO AWAY! You're bothering my siesta." (Picture 14) Then they dive in the water and disappear. (Picture 15) They come up again several feet behind the boat and watch.
As we returned to port, the captain had to navigate a minefield of otters. Most were shy because of the size of the boat and dove under the water when we slowly approached, but these two looked us over (Picture 16). This started as a raft of 8, but by the time we could get a camera on them, only 3 were willing to stay, and the middle one was ready to dive under the water. (Picture 17) Ranger James told us that the Harriman never saw one otter in their 2 month voyage because there were less than 1000 then. Russian fur traders, who called them "soft gold", had almost hunted them to extinction. One otter pelt would bring 5 times a man's average yearly income. Now only Native Peoples can hunt them, and they are not allowed to sell them. They enforce the penalty of 3-5 years in jail for hunting otters. There are now over 50,000 otters in Alaskan waters.
Kittiwakes, a special type of gull, nest on high cliffs, where the only predator they fear is the bald eagle. You can identify them by their short bodies and black wingtips. There were hundreds, if not thousands, on the rock cliffs. (Picture 18 & 19) They return to the same nest every year. They winter in Costa Rica.
About 10 minutes later, we came upon a bald eagle pair, who I think were looking for salmon. (Picture 20) Then one of them took off for their nest. (Picture 21)
We may need to worry about the health of some species, but kittiwakes and gulls are doing well, as you can see from all the nests. (Picture 22) There were hundreds of birds on these cliffs.
I would highly recommend the Major Marine cruises, both in Seward for marine life and in Whittier for glaciers. You can use a buy one/ get one free from either of the coupon books. Their Copper River silver salmon was good, and their prime rib was great (and I'm not a beef eater usually). The crew was stellar. The boat has wide aisles and would feel comfortable even if there were a full passenger load. However, we got lucky today because full is 150, and we only had 60 passengers. Calling ahead (which we did) for a slack day is well advised, because tomorrow they are full.
Staying at Williwaw State Park Campground