What’s a Williwaw?

Williwaw Campground, Portage, Alaska – July 16 through 19, 2014

The next morning I do a little exploring and find out we share our space with a now defunct coffee shop. Darn, we coulda’ used some of that.

Exploring the woods beyond the gravel I come upon this neat scene.

Portage is a former settlement on the Turnagain Arm. In the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, the town sank 6 feet below sea level. As a result, it was mostly abandoned and today only a few derelict buildings remain along with a “ghost forest” of dead trees killed when the earthquake caused salt water to inundate their roots. All that is left now is a junction in the road and railroad that leads to Whittier.

Now we have a whole 6 miles to go to the Williwaw National Forest Service campground. It was late when we stopped last night and there was no sense in paying for a campground when all we were going to do was park and sleep in it. We time it so we arrive just about checkout time, so there should be several sites empty.

After getting set up in our site, we discovered that some of the other Loosey Group were there as well.

But they weren’t home so we hopped in the Element and went exploring. First stop was the Begich Boggs Visitor where we saw an iceberg sitting just offshore.

If I remember correctly, this is our first iceberg sighting of the trip. And boy is it blue!

I was trying not to get splashed while taking iceberg pictures.

On our 2011 trip we had bypassed Whittier, I’m not sure why, but we decide to not make that mistake again. I mean after all, how often do you get to legally drive your car or RV on railroad tracks for 2.5 miles. The Whittier Tunnel, or officially Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, is the 2nd longest highway tunnel in North America. And best of all, you get to share it with trains.

And then it’s our turn.

Whittier is now a sport fishing hot spot and cruise ship terminal. The tourist amenities are minimal, but more than adequate for travel adventurers such as ourselves. Cruise ships stop mainly to pick up or disgorge passengers of the Alaska Railroad Train. These tourists are either arriving from or departing for Anchorage and a series of other tourist destinations.

Another main feature of town is the deserted Buckner Building. The Buckner Building was conceived in 1948 and completed in 1953 at the peak of the Cold War. Designed to house military personnel it was constructed by the United States Government strategically for its proximity to Anchorage. Described as a ‘City Under One Roof’ for the fact that it housed 1,000 apartments, an auditorium, pool, library, church, a 6 cell jail, bowling alley, bakery, a dark room, cafeteria, kitchen, lounge, hospital, a store, radio station, rifle range, gymnasium, classrooms and more for the military personnel and their families. The Buckner Building is constructed completely out of thick concrete to withstand the impact of bombs a perceived threat during the cold war.

The building is named after General Simon Buckner who died during World War II. . The compound was eventually abandoned after the military ran out of uses for it, and in 1964 the Big Alaska Earthquake rendered it uninhabitable. The building is filled with asbestos, making it too expensive to properly demolish, meaning it will probably remain standing for years to come.

Frank admiring wooden carving of Beluga Whales while talking to his Dad.

Woah, he hooked a big one! ( Not really, but it is another excellent wood carving )

We took a drive up to the top of a dirt road and had some great views.

Done exploring Whittier, we head back to the other side of the mountain rushing to make the 5PM opening of the tunnel we ran smack dab into a parked train.

We make the tunnel in time, and now we have to wait on a train to come out of the tunnel. It looks like the Glacier Discovery Tour returning to Whittier.

No problem, we’ll just stare at glaciers until it’s our turn.

After we make it through, we call it a day and return to Big Guy. Since it is the happy hour, we make some adult beverages and wander over to see what the other Loosey Gooseys are doing.

The next day, Thursday, we wander back to the visitor center to check on the glacier and find that it has flipped. It now looks totally different.

Feeling pretty energetic, we tackle the trail that leads to Byron Glacier. The hike there wasn’t bad until you got to all the rocky terrain. Here you can actually walk on the glacier. Some pretty “cool” formations.

Frank, taking a break before the trek back down the trail.

Earlier in the day, we had purchased tickets for the Portage Glacier cruise ( another Tour Book discount ). When we arrive we see a tour bus sitting there. But not to worry, they were picking tourists up instead of letting them off. Our group turned out to be fairly small.

EJ claimed us a spot in the prime seating area. ( She’s covering up the “Seniors Only” sign )

The ship’s flag is proudly displayed against a background of mountains.

Our first mate going over the safety details. He said we could have life vests after he got his.

Once we were underway, this little boat kept moving icebergs that might potentially be in our path.

In the distance, Portage Glacier begins to peek around the corner.

And then we begin to get closer.

And then the cameo pictures in front of Portage Glacier.

Internet access has been real elusive here in the campground. Every now and then you could get just a whisper of a signal. However, it was enough that an email message got through that our mattress warmer had arrived in Anchorage. So that decides Friday’s activities.  It’s about a 100 mile round trip. We’ll just take the Element and make a day of it.

We’ve good reports about the Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage we figure we’ll begin our outing by stopping there. Well, the tour buses and crowds kinda edged us out, so we stopped to view one of the few remaining structures from the original Portage settlement.

Planning on lunch at the Girdwood intersection we stop to see what the Bakery Café has to offer. Hmmm, that didn’t work. So we drive up the valley to the town of Girdwood and find a nice pub restaurant and grab a bite. Across the street is the Grinder coffee shop, and we stop for a Mocha.

Wandering around we spot this beautiful patch of fireweed.

The rest of the trip consisted of stopping at the King Street Brewery and filling up the growler and picking up the mattress warmer.

On the way back, we hoped to see another bore tide up close but it was not to be. Just more beautiful views. The mountains over Turnagain Arm.

OK, enough excitement for one day. Back at the campground, we find that Steve, Nancy, Jon and Sue have arrived. We gather in Steve and Nancy’s camp site to build a fire, take care of the growler and play more games.

Saturday took Steve and Nancy with us to the small town of Hope to go exploring.

Hope is a small community of a little over 100 people that is right across Turnagain Arm from Anchorage. Gold was discovered here in the 1890’s and the nearby, no longer existing, town of Sunrise was once the largest city in Alaska.

The residents of Hope strongly support the town. Fund raisers, cake sales, parades and more are encouraged and supported to raise money for the community. One fellow we met had help build a small community center which on that day was being used for a cake walk.

In the community center, the prize for raffle they were having was on display.

Hope is also where Resurrection Creek empties into Turnagain Arm, and the red salmon were on the move. Lots of fisher people were doing their best to snag their limit.

The town even provided a fish cleaning station.

After grabbing a bite to eat, we began to walk around town and were treated to an antique car show.

As our walk continued we passed several interesting homes.

Then we found the Historical Museum.

Wow, a pretty busy day for a small little town. We were pretty tuckered out, but wait, there is one more store to visit.

On the ride back, we managed to resurrect enough energy for a short hike before returning to the campground. This looked like a prime moose sighting spot, but none appeared. However, Nancy swore she saw a nude man laying on a picnic table.

It’s been a full day, it’s time to head back to Williwaw.

And for those of you still wondering about the title, a williwaw is a sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea. Gee, that’s right where our campground is.