Day 17 Monday We are on the Alaska Ferry from Whittier, AK to Valdez, AK. We left Seward at 7:00 and drove north on AK-1.
As we were leaving we heard the whistle of the Alaska Railroad Seward to Anchorage train. The AKRR tracks parallel the highway for most of the trip so we stopped and got a picture of one of my favorite trains:
As we went north up the Kenai Peninsula, we encountered evidence of the Swan Lake Forest Fire burning in the north of the peninsula:
The road that goes from AK-1 to Whittier crosses the mountain range thru a tunnel. The tunnel was built by the US Army Engineers during World War II to provide a supply line to Anchorage that could not be interrupted by Japanese warships in the Pacific Ocean. The town of Whittier and the tunnel were built, and several forts equipped with 6-inch guns were built to defend the fort.
The tunnel is only one lane wide (all that was needed for trains at the time.) Today the Alaska RR, east-bound and west-bound car traffic all share the tunnel using allotted time periods for passage. The western portal:
Whittier, like many other parts of Alaska, was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1964. The city was rebuilt but there many signs of having to live the threat of another quake:
Our travelling protector, ArmyMan, got in a picture. ArmyMan joined our trips in 2012 here in Alaska.:
After a brief wait in Whittier, we boarded the Alaska Ferry for passage to Valdez:
Jim