OFF TO THE KENAI PENINSULA...

Anton Anderson
Memorial Tunnel

Portage Glacier

The ferry ride to Wittier is lovely and we hang out on the deck and chat with a couple from Valdez for most of the journey and some young travelers while waiting to disembark.  Everyone suggests the town of Hope as a place to check out so, Hope is out next destination. Once we arrive in Wittier, we head straight to the Portage Glacier Access Road.  We arrive at the staging area for the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel (AKA the Wittier Tunnel) and have a green light… no waiting… and no toll… this direction is free… woo hoo!  The single lane tunnel uses a computerized traffic-control system that regulates both rail and highway traffic.  The speed limit is 25 mph and it takes just under seven minutes to travel through the tunnel. This is the longest highway tunnel and the longest combined highway/railroad tunnel in North America at 13,200 feet.  Once through the tunnel we pull over and check out Portage Lake, Byron Glacier and part of the receding Portage Glacier.

Hope, AK

Continuing on to the Seward Highway we head south and then detour onto the Hope Highway.  Just before the town of Hope, we stop at Alaska Dacha for a full hook-up RV spot. While settling in, the power goes out so we head into town hoping to get some lunch.  Once in town, we realize that the power is out here too.  The restaurant has turned their sign to ‘CLOSED’, but there’s an ice cream truck and they are serving.  So what’s so wrong about an ice cream sandwich for lunch? Especially when the afore said sandwich is made from huge home made white and dark chocolate chip cookies filled with high quality vanilla ice cream?  While chomping on our sandwiches we walk over to the mouth of Resurrection Creek and watch some anglers take Red Salmon to their final destination. 

Billy Miller

Founded in 1896, Hope was a short-termed gold mining camp.  Many of the original buildings still stand although their use has changed.  There is still gold in Resurrection Creek and folks are still working the stream looking for wealth.  We drive around the area on gravel roads and enjoy the scenery.  At the Hope and Sunrise Historical Museum we meet Billy Miller. Billy is 87 years old, a wounded veteran of the Korean War, and now legally blind.  He takes us around the out buildings showing us special artifacts and tells us how he rebuilt the log structures when they were moved to the site.  The history and his tales about the people are fascinating.  We know that this is a special day for us, and one that will not be repeated for others too may times in the future. 

Note: There are three choices for RV camping in Hope. Alaska Dacha with full hook-ups just before town, the in-town campground at the mouth of the Resurrection creek with electricity only and the Porcupine USFS campground at the end of the Hope Highway for dry-camping and incredible views.  If we return, Porcupine would be our choice for a few days here.

Then it’s on to Seward past the Exit Glacier and into town on the shore of the Resurrection Bay.  Here we stay at the Waterfront Park Municipal Campground. Spaces are self-register-first-come-first-serve some are dry camping and some have water and electricity.  The place is a zoo as folks scramble for the best spots along the waterfront.  Check out time here is 4:00 PM (as opposed to 11:00 AM in most other RV Parks) so timing is also part of the equation.  There is one spot open on the landside of the front row and we pull in.  We have water and electricity, no ocean view from the gaucho deck but it’s OK.

Most of the attractions in Seward revolve around fishing charters and glacier tours.  For us, fishing is stopping at Captain Jacks to pick up some ‘catch of the day’ fresh halibut for dinner and the freezer and we’ve pretty much done our share of glacier tours. So we’re content to walk around the harbor and town and enjoy just hanging out.

One of twenty Murals

Seward is the Mural Capital of Alaska.  The Seward Mural Society offers a walking tour flyer that shows the location of sixteen murals.  Murals have been added since it’s publication and we find most of the twenty murals scattered about the town. 

Dead Art in Seward

The town boasts many well-preserved early twentieth century buildings and a walking tour map from the Seward Visitor Center gives us a little information on the buildings and their origins.  A must see is the Hotel Seward Lobby with their extensive collection of Dead Art. 

Up Close with a Sea Lion

The Alaska Sea Life Center hosts a public aquarium and a modern marine research and rehabilitation facility. The aquarium features Alaskan sea life and marine mammals and is what we expect from a twenty-first century public aquarium.  But the real action takes place in the back of house. We take a behind the scenes tour and learn about the logistics of feeding the aquarium residents and check out the rehabilitation section where sick and injured birds and mammals are being treated. There is a lab with video monitors that have a live feed from solar powered cameras mounted in the Stellar Sea lion rookeries. A biologist monitors the population making notes on a huge spreadsheet for analysis.  Individual sea lions can be identified by the edges of their rear flippers so the live visual gives the scientists data about individuals as well as the colony.

Seward claims to have a bit of everything that Alaska has to offer:  Glaciers, wildlife, mountains, forests, sea life, museums, etc… If you could only choose one town to visit, Seward would be a good choice. (Like the ‘cliff notes’ version of the state.)

Now it’s time to move on and check out the rest of the Kenai Peninsula…