Day 30, Part 2 of Lupe’s Summer of 2016 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies, Yukon & Alaska
Flashing lights. SPHP slowed down, pulling over toward the shoulder to let the cop go past. Instead, the patrol car came right up behind the G6. Uh-oh. SPHP had been driving 10 mph under the limit. Now what? Lupe started to growl as the policeman approached SPHP’s window. Not a good time for that, Looper! Shush!
Burnt out headlight. Which one? The right one. Good grief. That same headlight had burnt out a few weeks before Lupe left home on this Dingo vacation. SPHP had personally bought and installed a new bulb. Most aggravating.
The officer politely gave SPHP a $50 fix-it ticket. Fix it within 30 days and have the headlight inspected by an Alaskan state trooper, or pay the fine. Sigh. Well, onward. Nothing could be done about it on a Sunday evening. Loopster, that was an adventure we could have done without.
The adventure Lupe was on her way toward was the trail to Portage Pass to see the Portage Glacier. Only a few days ago, Lupe had seen Portage Lake and taken a nearby trail to see the Byron Glacier. However, Portage Glacier long ago receded from view from the NW end of Portage Lake where Lupe had been. To see it, Lupe would have to go through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel (also known as the Whittier Tunnel), and take the trail to Portage Pass.
At 13,300 feet long (2.5 miles), the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in North America. The tunnel is only a single lane wide, and highway vehicles share it with the Alaskan Railroad. Railroad tracks are embedded right in the highway lane.
Logistically, the tunnel functions on a set schedule, with highway vehicles getting to use the tunnel for 15 minutes in each direction each hour. The 15 minute intervals alternate directions every 30 minutes. The tunnel is not open to highway vehicles at night. During 2016’s summer schedule, the first time slot in the morning was 7:00 – 7:15 AM. The last time slot in the evening was 11:00 – 11:15 PM.
Lupe timed her arrival at the Whittier Tunnel perfectly! SPHP paid the $13.00 round trip fee for the G6 at the toll booth. Only a minute or two later, Lupe had a green light to enter the tunnel.
The maximum speed limit was only 25 mph, so it took a while to get through the tunnel. It was spookier and more fun than Lupe expected! It was a little like going down a long dungeon passage in a video game, except there were no side doors, passages, turns or curves at all. (No wandering monsters, either!) The tunnel was completely straight.
In a few places, water dripped from the ceiling. At intervals, there were small pullouts for vehicles experiencing mechanical difficulties. Otherwise, no stops are permitted. If a train had been coming from the other direction, the Whittier Tunnel would be the stuff of nightmares.
Of course, the tunnel’s carefully controlled schedule prevents head on collisions from happening. Still, it was an odd feeling when, upon emerging from the tunnel, Lupe saw a locomotive aimed directly at the passage she had just taken.
Lupe was now on the Whittier side. Only a short distance (0.25 mile?) from the end of the tunnel, was a R turn onto a gravel road that promptly went over the railroad tracks. This was the short road leading to the Portage Pass trailhead. Another R turn led to a lane where vehicles were parked along both sides of the road. It was a strange trailhead with no formal parking lot. At first, SPHP wasn’t even certain Lupe was at the right place.
This was it, though! SPHP parked the G6 (7:02 PM, 57°F). Tall bushes dominated the area, and out of them flooded a horde of tiny black flies. Standing around meant getting chewed on by these little menaces. Lupe and SPHP looked around for the trail to Portage Pass, finding it near a sign. Lupe set off up the trail at once.
The Portage Pass trail was relatively busy, with people and dogs coming and going. Most were leaving at this time of day. Tall bushes grew everywhere off the trail. Biting black flies were everywhere, too. They weren’t too bad, as long as Lupe didn’t stop to look around. Going up the trail to Portage Pass, there really wasn’t much to stop and look at anyway, although the view back toward Whittier and Passage Canal was steadily improving as Lupe gained elevation.
The trail to Portage Pass is only a mile or so long. The trail is popular, so it was well-worn and in good condition. It starts close to sea level, and gains nearly 800 feet of elevation. Most of the way, it climbed steadily at a moderate pace. As Lupe neared the pass, the climb became steeper. The annoying black flies did an excellent job of discouraging any needless dawdling along the way.
Thankfully, a breeze was blowing up at the pass, largely solving the black fly problem. Ahead were magnificent sights!
Coming up, Lupe had been in the shadow of Maynard Mountain (4,137 ft.), but beyond the pass, snow-covered mountains gleamed in the evening sunlight. Beautiful Portage Glacier was directly ahead a mile or more away. Big waterfalls cascaded down nearby mountains from snow fields and smaller glaciers.
A maze of small trails climbed a variety of hilly rock formations and small ridges in Portage Pass. Lupe climbed up for a better look. A small pond known as Divide Lake was ahead to the SW. Divide Lake sat lower down on a broad, brushy flat area, beyond which Lupe saw Portage Glacier extending all the way down to the far shore of Portage Lake.
A trail continues beyond Portage Pass all the way down to Portage Lake, which is another mile away. Unfortunately, Lupe had arrived too late in the day to go that far. However, while she was up at Portage Pass, Lupe met Matt and Elisa from Nome. They decided they wanted to go at least to Divide Lake, so Lupe and SPHP tagged along, too.
From Divide Lake, it wasn’t possible to see the lower part of the Portage Glacier where it reaches Portage Lake. However, Lupe did have beautiful double views of the upper portion of the glacier and surrounding peaks reflected in the lake
Lupe, Matt, Elisa and SPHP went a little beyond Divide Lake, eventually reaching a bench. Bushes had grown up so much, anyone sitting on the bench no longer had a view of the Portage Glacier. SPHP could see it, but only by standing on top of a big rock nearby. Lupe saw only bushes in the direction of Portage Glacier, but she could still see big waterfalls on the mountains to the S.
Matt and Elisa talked about life in Nome. Elisa told of having to call in late for work sometimes due to herds of musk oxen blocking the road. Elisa was the first person Lupe or SPHP had ever met who had this problem. There can’t be too many places in the world where musk oxen in the way would be a well-received excuse for being late to work.
Sunlight was rapidly disappearing. Soon it would be gone even from the mountaintops. Lupe, Matt, Elisa and SPHP all started back for Portage Pass. At the pass, Matt and Elisa went on, but Lupe tarried. From another rocky hill in the pass, Lupe had a beautiful view of Passage Canal back toward Whittier.
A few late stragglers were still heading up the Portage Pass trail as Lupe headed back down to the G6. Before long, it would be too dark for them to see much of anything at Portage Pass. Most of the time, the trail was deserted. Lupe arrived back at the G6 (9:17 PM).
Even though it was getting dark, Lupe and SPHP drove into the town of Whittier, to see what it was like. Whittier was a strange place. There were few homes, and only a small run-down looking business district. Three high-rise buildings were perched up against the base of towering mountains, but only one of them was lit up.
On a Sunday evening, there wasn’t much going on, but it was easy to see that Whittier must ordinarily be a busy place. There were lots of commercial buildings around. Large parking lots were crammed full of vehicles and boats. Down by the shore, a great many boats were moored along illuminated docks in a cove of Passage Canal. Multiple railroad tracks ran through town.
The whole place had an abandoned industrial air to it, though what could be seen of the setting was spectacularly beautiful. Did Lupe want to spend the night stuck in Whittier? No, probably not. There was still time to make the 10:00 PM tunnel access back out of Whittier to the rest of the world.
So Lupe left spectacular Portage Pass, and the odd, beautifully situated town of Whittier behind. She made one more spooky trip trip through Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, emerging from the far end beneath a starlit Alaskan sky.
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