Alaska Adventure: Catch-up: My Summer Vacation

(part uno/un)

My first Alaska summer was amazing! I kept busy with fishing, gardening, photography, enjoying cool sunny days, rainy days and finally, vacationing con mi hija, Kyla

Kyla is the first person to visit me in my new home. She spent nine days here and

we had a wonderful time traveling the South Central region of Alaska. She arrived late on a Friday night and, armed with fishing gear and a non-resident fishing license for her, we hit the ground running early Saturday morning as we headed out to my favorite fishing spot; Resurrection Creek at the town of Hope. Hope is where I caught my first pink salmon and where, it is rumored, a person can get the best homemade pie in the area .

We wanted to get to Hope early enough (an hour or so before high tide) for Kyla to witness the speed and depth at which a high tide invades the creek. The extreme changes usually occur within a few days of the new moon or the full moon so timing was perfect for Kyla to be able to witness the extremes. The change in water level,is so rapid it feels as if the changes occur within the time it takes to look…turn your back and walk several yards, then look again.

This time of year the creek is brimming with salmon that are dying as they attempt to return to the place of their “birth”. Upon seeing the fish lying on their sides in the shallows, breathing their last breaths and knowing that with the receding tide they would be left for the gulls, Kyla’s first reaction was to push them into deeper water. She knew it was a futile effort but was reluctant to just watch.

You can see by the picture at the top of this post, the tide was quite high and not much later (left) the gulls had a place to land and have a feast. The creek banks are made up of glacial silt and are very slippery. The water, right after the tide comes in is very gray from the silt.

While the gulls were having their breakfast, we went the Hope’s only café for our...eggs, homefries and reindeer sausage. We took a large piece of banana cream pie to go but only got as far as inside the car before we ate it. Oh, my gosh…it was heavenly!! After pie, we slowly made our way back to Anchorage, stopping at Whittier and the famous rapidly receding Portage Glacier .

To get to Whittier we drove through the tunnel that is only big enough for one-way train traffic. Kyla took video (you'll turn your head 1/2 way through :0). Imagine riding through a tunnel that is only 16 feet wide (including egress side walk) by 21 feet high. Jet engine fans help ventilate

the tunnel. More tunnel facts can be found at: http://www.dot.state.ak.us/creg/whittiertunnel/tundesign.shtml. Other than by water or hiking, the only way to get to Whittier is through this train tunnel. There are queue lines, just like Washington State Ferry lines, where a person waits with their vehicle until the schedule allows vehicles from their direction to proceed through the tunnel. Many a person has been stranded in Whittier because they didn't make it out of town before the tunnel closed for the night. To mark the occasion, T-shirts are available for purchase that have "POW" on the front. It stands for "Prisoner of Whittier".

Whittier is on Prince William Sound. It's population is 159 (as noted in July 2008), has fish processing plants and is a stop for cruise ships. People who come in on cruise ships generally get on a tour bus to Anchorage or take advantage of the wares and services (kayaking, glacier cruises, etc.) that are available in the many small one-room buildings that are open only during the summer tourist season.

Back in WWII times, large high-rise buildings were constructed to house military personnel. Along with living spaces,

the buildings contained everything a city needed…movie theatre, swimming pool, bowling alley, etc. They are now abandoned and for safety reasons are marked to keep trespas

sing to a minimum.

Much to my chagrin Kyla went inside with her camera and a flashlight with near dead batteries while I waited in the car hoping she wouldn’t fall through a rotting floor or trip and land on a

rusty nail. I breathed a sigh of relief when she appeared at the car window many long minutes later. While she was inside she took some shots in the dark and realized when the flash went off that she was

on the stage in the theatre. She also got some that she thinks is the theatre snack counter.

On the way back to Anchorage from Whittier, we stopped to see Portage Glacier. Kyla went into the visitor center while I took a nap in the car. It was the second-to-last stop of a long but very enjoyable day and a preview of the next eight. The last stop was at the Moose’s Tooth pizza place for a “Backpackers” pizza with added bacon, delicious salad (their house basil vinagrette is to die for) and dessert I won’t order in the future. Some weirdly textured lemon cake-thing.