Land ho, but it looks like it is underwater

Thursday September 10

Whittier to Talkeetna: 301.2 km

Cumulative distance: 1500 km

Maximum speed: 110 km/h

Average speed: 69 km/h

Arriving at Whittier was grim. It’s early, dark, cold and raining. At least we have had oatmeal for breakfast on the boat. It took as about 40 minutes to get off the ferry, which was fine; the vehicles have to go first to give us the room to get out.

Whittier Harbour, from the Kennicott.

Nan helping Stan get shielded from the elements.

Waiting for our turn in the tunnel.

Lining up for the tunnel.

We have to line up once off the ferry because there is a 2.4 mile tunnel through the mountain that we must pass through to get to the rest of Alaska and the tunnel is just wide enough for vehicles going in one direction at a time. Every half hour the direction changes, so at the top of the hour, the direction is north and we have to wait about 35 minutes for our turn. Motorcycles have to go last because they have to give us a safety briefing which basically amounts to “for God’s sake, don’t fall!” In addition, there is probably a much greater likelihood of an incident involving a motorcycle so they would want the least amount of traffic disrupted if there is an incident.

We are instructed to ride down the middle, which just happens to be between the railway tracks, and down the middle are metal plates that probably conceal pipes or conduit. With the rain, it looks really slippery inside but we all make it and nobody is worse for wear.

This is what it looks like inside the tunnel.

Watching for the guys to exit.

By the time we have waited then passed through the tunnel, it is starting to get light out. Emerging from the tunnel was like being re-born; the sky is getting brighter, the rain has stopped, clouds are lifting, we see patches of blue sky, we are on a beautiful inlet and all is right with the world! It is still cold but it looks a whole lot better than a half hour before. I have relayed this story a couple of times to locals and the comment has generally been that the mountain (with the tunnel) holds back a lot of weather and that there is far more rain on the Whittier side than the Anchorage (north) side.  

Alaska gets a new lease on life!

We make a brief stop in Anchorage because John has an urge to go shopping and we all need something more to eat since the boat. At the restaurant, checking e-mail, I am bombarded with e-mail (two) with people wanting to know if everything is o.k. because the Spotwalla link is showing us still in Yakatut. No, we were not sinking, apparently the tracking device needs to be re-set periodically and I had not done it on the boat, so this was its protest. I had only discovered this when I did because I had wanted the device to track continuously while we were at sea so never turned it off. I know now.

 The big event for me was that we were on our way to visit my high school buddy John and his wife Cindy who have a cabin a couple of hours north of Anchorage. Allow me to point out that, as high school friends, we are now celebrating 41 years of friendship.  We should have marked the occasion with Champagne but unfortunately, Champagne and motorcycles don’t mix.

In front, Stan, Niels, John. In behind, me (Howi) Nan, John's lovely wife Cindy and my old high school buddy John.

They had a nice table laid for us before our arrival.

The menu for lunch.

The dessert!

We spent the afternoon and they put on a fabulous lunch for us all, including their own guest Don, all the way from Arizona. The cabin is small but sweet and while it remained on the fresh side outdoors, they had a beautiful table laid outside on the deck with the propane torches keeping us toasty.  You can see the menu above. What a great touch, printed menus for us! We were all instructed to sign one copy and  Nan and I took a copy.

Our ultimate destination for the day is Talkeetna, at the foot of Denali Park and the former Mount McKinley, now officially Mount Denali. The weather is holding, though not great, and we are hopeful that it is clear the next morning because we have the air tour planned.  Our hotel is right on the river and it would be better described as a “boutique hotel”; the rooms are quaint and cabin-like but the view is breathtaking. Still can’t see the mountain, though.

No, it is not the hotel from "The Shining".

The view from the hotel.