Prince William Sound

July 12, 2004

We took a day cruise out of Whittier to see some tidewater glaciers in Prince William Sound. Whittier was started during World War II as an army base and port for shipping supplies into Alaska by rail. Until 2000 the only way you could get to Whittier was by train or boat; no roads went there. In 2000 they  opened the train tunnel to automobile traffic. Driving through the tunnel is an interesting experience. Since there is only one lane, traffic goes one way for 30 minutes, and then reverses for the next 30 minutes. This pattern is interrupted when trains are coming through. You drive straddling one of the railroad tracks and have to be pretty attentive since the tunnel walls seem rather close.

The weather in Prince William Sound was perfect - calm and beautiful blue skies. The sea was surprisingly calm as we cruised by Cox and Cascade glaciers on our way to Surprise Glacier.
 

We passed by several rafts of sea otters - that's what they call a group of otters. The other times we saw sea otters, it was always one or two at a time -never more than that.  The sea otters seem to be spending most of their time laying on their backs in the water - what a life! Note the chunks of ice floating in the background; the water must have been cold, but they didn't mind it.
 

This is Surprise Glacier - our destination. The dark stripe down the middle is a medial moraine; it is formed by the merging of two lateral moraines when two glaciers flow together.
 

The captain "parked" the tour boat about a quarter-mile from the front of the glacier and we waited to see chunks of ice breaking off and falling into the sea; this is called "calving". Surprise Glacier is supposed to be one of the more active glaciers at present.
 

We didn't have to wait long. The calving produces a large cracking sound and then ice falls into the water, making quite a spray and sending out waves that rocked our boat a quarter mile away. John Muir, in his book "Travels in Alaska" called these berg waves.
 

Back at the campsite we spotted this motor home with a little doggie window. That must be one pampered pet.
 

We were amused at the exuberance of this fellow Wisconsinite. What more can be said about it!
 

This completes the coastal portion of our trip. Next we head north into the interior of Alaska.