{"id":3064,"date":"2014-07-30T17:29:41","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T17:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=3064"},"modified":"2014-07-30T17:29:41","modified_gmt":"2014-07-30T17:29:41","slug":"2014-vacation-days-8-and-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2014\/07\/30\/2014-vacation-days-8-and-9\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Vacation: Days 8 and 9"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A view of nearby mountains through the morning mist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After our perfect day on Mt. McKinley, the next day was rainy all day. \u00a0We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks as we drove south from our campsite, but the rain and fog really limited visibility. \u00a0 We also make a quick stop at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to restock the pantry.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking around the museum at the mine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To break up the drive, we stopped at the Indian Creek mine where a character talked to us about the mine and some of the antiques he had collected. \u00a0We were only able to see the mine entrance, but it was a good way to get off the road for a while. \u00a0The museum was housed in an old log cabin which had once been pushed all the way onto the river ice by an avalanche. \u00a0It was moved back and many years later was designated a national historic site, dating past the Alaska gold rush. \u00a0The owner said that initially the Smithsonian wouldn’t grant historic site designation, because the cabin wasn’t in its original location, but once they found out that natural forces moved it, they relented.<\/p>\n

\"Sammy<\/a>
Sammy making friends with a beluga<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We stopped at another scenic overlook because of the rain. \u00a0After a few hands of dominoes, the rain subsided. \u00a0We walked around the overlook. \u00a0Again, the rain and fog limited visibility, but we found these interesting sculptures of beluga whales.<\/p>\n

\"Along<\/a>
Along the hike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Near Girdwood we took a 5 mile hike. \u00a0The attraction here was the hand tram over Glacier Creek. \u00a0It rained the whole way, but it was a good hike.<\/p>\n

\"Tommy<\/a>
Tommy and Sammy pulling themselves in the hand tram across the raging stream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The hand tram was really neat. \u00a0Up to two people could get in this cage and then pull themselves across with the rope. \u00a0All of us took a turn in the bucket.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking down through the floor of the hand tram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After returning from the hike and drying off a bit, we bought a pizza in Girdwood and drove to our campsite for the night. \u00a0We stayed in the Willawa camp ground, managed by the Forest Service. \u00a0The campsites were far apart and surrounded by trees, so it didn’t seem very crowded. \u00a0When we went to bed, we weren’t sure about whether the weather would cooperate for our planned glacier cruise the next day.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view along the morning hike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We had a lot of low fog the next morning. \u00a0(This stream was supposed to be full of spawning salmon, but we saw none.) \u00a0We weren’t sure about the cruise, but there was a little blue poking through the clouds, so after a brief stop at a visitors center for information, we drove through the tunnel to Whittier.<\/p>\n

\"Only<\/a>
Only you can prevent forest fires!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world shared by vehicles and trains. \u00a0On the half hour traffic is permitted to drive into Whittier. \u00a0On the hour, traffic comes out of Whittier. \u00a0In between, trains use the tunnel.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A glacier viewed through two mountains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Whittier was built by the US Army during WWII as a supply depot. \u00a0Supplies would be unloaded in Whittier (on Prince William Sound) and taken inland by train. \u00a0Today almost the entire population of the town lives in a single high-rise building built to house soldiers and their families.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>
We had a Forest Service ranger provide narrating during our cruise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we came through the tunnel to Whittier, the weather was beautiful. \u00a0It was sunny, warm, and blue. \u00a0We bought our tickets and boarded for our cruise to see 26 glaciers. \u00a0On board was a ranger from the US Forest Service who provided narration, which was terrific. \u00a0He also helped spot wildlife.<\/p>\n

\"Sea<\/a>
Sea lions lounging on "egg rocks"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first portion of the cruise was just getting out to the interesting stuff. \u00a0They served us a very nice cod lunch to pass the time. \u00a0The food was quite good. \u00a0Eventually we arrived at the sea lion rookery (shown above), where we saw many sea lions. \u00a0The boat could not get too close to the sea lions to avoid disturbing them.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/a>
What a handsome dude!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We saw all 26 glaciers. \u00a0I was checking them off on the map. \u00a0There were so many amazing sights that it was difficult not to become jaded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>
One of the tidewater glaciers that come down to the water's edge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ranger told us that there are only about 10 days this nice all Summer on Prince William Sound. \u00a0After the excellent day on Mt. McKinley and the crappy day the day before, we were amazed at our luck!<\/p>\n

\"Reflections\"<\/a>
Reflections<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the wildlife we spotted we saw many sea otters lounging in the water.<\/p>\n

\"Sea<\/a>
Sea otters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The total cruise time was over five hours, getting us back in time to make the on-the-hour train out of Whittier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Surprise<\/a>
Surprise glacier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cook expedition was stopped by ice, so his maps missed an arm of the Sound that led to this glacier. \u00a0When the Harriman expedition found this arm in a later expedition, they were greeted by this huge glacier, so it is called “Surprise Glacier.” \u00a0We were hoping to see it calve (a big chunk falling off into the water), but didn’t. \u00a0The boat loitered here for a while, and we got some amazing views.<\/p>\n

\"10,000<\/a>
10,000 gulls nesting together on the rocks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Our<\/a>
Our boat, the Klondike Express<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After driving back through the long tunnel from Whittier, we headed toward Seward. \u00a0Candy found a very nice camp ground with full hookups about 20 minutes north of Seward, our destination for the next day.<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>
Our motor home parked at the Renfro's campsite not far from Seward<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The lake at sunset at our campsite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The campground has its own lake front, and the kids took a turn in one of the paddle boats after dinner.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking to the East from our campsite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was one of our last sights (at 2300 hours) before going to bed. \u00a0What a place!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After our perfect day on Mt. McKinley, the next day was rainy all day. \u00a0We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks as we drove south from our campsite, but the rain and fog really limited visibility. \u00a0 We also make a quick stop at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to restock the pantry. To break up … Continue reading 2014 Vacation: Days 8 and 9<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}