20030722                   Open new window with today’s pictures.

July 22, 2003


Start:   Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez AK
End:     USAF Recreation Center CG, Seward AK
Miles:   85
Hi Temp: 73.0 (probably in the ferry)
Lo Temp: 50.0


We started today rather early at 5:15am. We scrubbed up, then put everything away and unhooked from the campground utilities.  Then we went looking for a cup of coffee, which we found at the local Eagle (Safeway) store. We found donuts there, too.

We wandered through the streets of Valdez (bleak, misty/raining, clouds down to 50') to the ferry terminal and checked in. We were the first ones there (that should tell us something).

The ferry E. L. Bartlett had just arrived and was unloading. We read our books, ate the donuts and drank coffee.

When loading started, they took three vans full of college kids first, then a van full of University of Alaska - Fairbanks people next, then most of the cars, then us.  We fit in nicely behind a truck that was already on board from a prior stop (probably Cordoba).  We locked up, set the brake, and surrendered our five-gallon plastic jug of diesel fuel to be put into the paint locker for safe-keeping.

We found seats in the lounge (windows on three sides) next to the desk of the US Forest Service naturalist on board for the trip, Bonnie.  After we got underway, we read for a good bit of the trip.

Bonnie alerted us to several things while on the way to Whittier.  First was the puffin-and-sea-lion place we saw two days ago on the LuLu Belle. We also saw a kittiwake nesting grounds, a couple of glaciers, a sea otter, and an eagle.  She also gave background on the earthquake of 1964 and how it affected the region.

We went to the dining area for lunch, which was good and reasonable.

Not long after we returned to our seats, we spotted Whittier in the distance.  We tied up a few minutes early.

Some data on the Bartlett before we leave it.  It's not big - only 167 feet long by 53 feet wide.  It has two Fairbanks-Morse opposed-piston diesels, model 38D1/8, just like some of the WWII diesel-electric submarines had, and with which I became familiar on USS Sarda (SS488). They make 1600bhp at 720rpm; cylinder bore is 8 and 1/8 inches, and the stroke is 10 inches, for a displacement of 1037 cubic inches.  The major difference on this ship is that they are direct-connected to the reduction gear and then to the propellors; you stop the engine and start it again in the other direction to go into reverse.  I wasn't aware those things were reversable till now. These two engines drive Bartlett at 13 knots on a good day. She was built in 1969, and probably doesn't have many years remaining. We overheard the purser saying it was up for sale, since changes would have to be made to bring her up to the new safety standards about to be imposed.

We crawled carefully out and up the ramp and headed for the tunnel.  Until recently, Whittier's single-track tunnel could only be used by trains. It was dug in 1942-43 to improve delivery of goods to the interior of Alaska. A year or two ago, the area between and on other either side of the tracks was paved for use by road vehicles. Now, when not in use by a train, it is used by road traffic by alternating the direction of travel.  Staging areas are located at each end to provide a space for traffic to wait until it's their turn. 

We went through the tunnel slowly. The speed limit is 25mph and it's two miles long.  When we exited, we found ourselves at Portage Lake, the small lake created by the melting of Portage Glacier.  When we were here in 1995, the whole lake was full of floating ice pieces because an earthquake had shaken the area a few days before. Today, the lake was nearly clear of ice. We also felt the temperature to be much milder on this side of the mountain.

We continued to AK-1 and turned south. As we headed for the split in the road where AK-9 to Seward begins, we talked over where we'd spend the night.  The Russian River area has a marauding bear threat, Homer was quite a distance, Seward was nearby and we need another puffin anyway. So we changed our plans again, went to Seward and checked into the USAF Recreation Center campground.

I should explain the puffin. The last time here, we bought a puffin windmill - the arms of the puffin rotate when the wind blows on them. The puffin got blown away somehow and its wings broke. So, we need a new puffin and the only place we've seen them is in Seward.

The recreation center thing here is amazing. Only the armed services could come up with this situation.  There are two recreation centers, side by side, on the north end of Seward.  One is run by the USAF out of Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage. The other is run by the Army out of Fort Richardson outside Anchorage and adjoining Elmendorf; in fact, the two bases share a large Exchange and Commissary complex.

The USAF one is smaller, but has cottages and a campground, and has a small Exchange.  The Army one is larger, has cottages and a campground, and has a small club and a small gift shop. The USAF one has a place to clean your fish catch. The Army one has a fishing boat that will take out a dozen or so people to catch fish, but no place to clean the fish. 

There must be a reason these two places aren't combined and improved, but I don't see it.

After we checked in, we toured Seward. Not much has changed.  A new Library is being constructed.

Then we went to dinner at Chinook's; we'd been there last time.  It has a great view of the fish-cleaning station at the harbor, and of the small boat harbor in general.  Dolores saw a 200 pound halibut on the display rack. There were salmon and ling cod and halibut and rockfish being hoisted onto a display station for picture-taking.

The food was good; Dungeness Crab for D and Salmon for me.

Then we walked up and down the harbor, then returned to the little house in the USAF Rec Ctr. We'll be asleep early tonight and head on to Homer tomorrow.