Alaska Trip: day 4

Mount Iliamna (above) and Mount Redoubt (below)

Woke up this morning to the pouring down rain in Homer and got really nervous for poor Emma, but I had to leave town and get up to Whittier to catch a ferry.  Surprisingly, the weather cleared up pretty quick, north of town and I got some good morning views of Mount Iliamna and Mount Redoubt.

Iceberg-free Portage Lake (above and below)

The Whittier Tunnel vehicle lineup (above) to go through the mountains (below)

Since I didn't want to be late and I had to make the Whittier Tunnel opening, I only stopped once at Portage Lake.  Sad fact: when I last visited in 2009, the lake was full of icebergs, but now Portage Glacier has retreated out of the lake and there are no longer icebergs floating in the lake.  After the depressing, windy, rainy, cold stop at Portage Lake, I drove the short distance more to line up for travel through the Whittier Tunnel.

The Aurora docking in Whittier (above) and Prince William Sound (below)

Iceberg floating out of Columbia Bay (above) and a supply barge coming out of Valdez Arm (below)

The Bridge of the Aurora (above and below) with Captain Oen

After driving through the tunnel and popping out in Whittier, I got a text from aunt Barbara announcing that uncle Fronty had COVID and she wanted to give me a heads up.  Since I had no other plans for the week, I elected to still drive up the highway, but to get my own Air BnB and stay outside and maintain distance.  I got a quick bagel sandwich and coffee in Whittier and then boarded the ferry, Aurora which I haven't ridden on since high school!

The ferry was packed and the seats all filled up fast.  I made the mistake of walking around the ferry first and as a result got a lame seat, but still had a partial view off the port side.  The ferry ride was six hours and unfortunately the whole trip was rainy and foggy and the views weren't great at all, but it was still much more relaxing than driving the six hours all the way around.  When we were almost to Valdez and we came back into cell phone reception, I got a text from the husband of a lady I went to high school with who had seen me post a picture of me boarding the Aurora.  As it turns out, he's the Captain of the Aurora and he had me up to the Bridge to watch him bring the Aurora into Port!

I had plans to get together and stay with Meta and James, but because they had all been in contact with uncle Fronty, I opted again to get my own Air BnB and not get together with them for dinner.  Instead, I went to Valdez Brewing just before they closed, got a flight, and a burger for dinner before turning in for the night.