NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAY 49 - TAKING THE ANDERSON TUNNEL THRU THE MOUNTAIN TO WHITTIER

Well, did we ever pack a lot into one day!

After leaving Bird Creek and getting propane, we headed down the Seward Highway, planning to stop at Girdwood to fill up our fresh water tank.

The scenery was beautiful along the way. I just can't stop taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery as we fly by on the road. Are there ever too many photos?

Seeing the ice and snow on top of these mountains is just so unusual when we are having such summer-like weather down below on the ground. We just don't have things like that in Wisconsin.

We watched as the tide was mostly out on the Turnagain Arm. There was a lot of smooth flat sandy areas. 

Locals know to not go out there at all.  But crazy tourists think they can get down there and walk around.  There can be sinkholes or collapsing sections because of the rapid movement of the tide coming in and going out. Nothing is stable on the bed of the Turnagain Arm.

We twisted and turned our way along the edge of the mountain ledge where they have chiseled away to make the road and the railroad tracks have clearance to get all the way down towards Girdwood and onwards to Seward.  At least there are guard rails here!

Once we reached Girdwood, it's a very fancy community by the Alyeskin Lodge and fancy ski resorts. We were told back behind the city hall, next to the fire department, is a marked faucet of potable water for people to use and fill their tanks. 

Sure enough, we found it! We were able to fill up our freshwater tank to the top before we headed back to one and only gas station in town.

Right next door we saw the sign that said "bakery"! We went in, hoping for fresh baked bread and maybe some hamburger buns. Nope. All they had were things like sweet rolls and cookies and bars. I had to drag Steve out of there. Once we got back to the motorhome, he suggested popping into the gas station to see if they had bread and buns? 

Sure enough, they did! 

While I was putting those away he said he was going to make a quick detour over to that bakery again. My mistake, I let him go alone...

He came back with a sheepish grin on his face and four packages in his arms!!! He said that he cannot be trusted in a bakery unattended. 

He had two huge cinnamon rolls, (his favorite of course) that were so big we had to chop them in half to share between us for coffee. Then in the other containers he bought these two humongous brownies that were about four or five inches across. We had to cut them up into quarters and they were so rich you could barely eat one quarter. Those lasted four days, and actually we just ate the last piece tonight as I write this blog.

  

We stowed away the baked goods and headed on down toward the intersection of Portage Glacier Road. This put us in the direction of Whittier to the south. We would come back this way and continue west on the Seward Highway after we explored the area to the south.

We drove along, admiring the beautiful scenery as we worked our way through the valley.  We drove through two National Forest Campgrounds on the way. We earmarked them as possible places to stay on the way back, Black Bear and Williwaw. Our America the Beautiful Federal Senior Access Pass will allow us to stay there for half price. 

But first, we had to drive beyond them and head towards Whittier. We had something exciting to do...  See that straight blue line going on a diagonal from Portage Lake to Whittier?

The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel—the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America, and the first designed for -40 Fahrenheit temperatures and 150 mph winds!

The one-lane tunnel must be shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions, and it usually needs to be aired out in between trips (with jet turbine ventilation, another first!). This unique design that enables a single lane of traffic to travel directly over the railroad track saved tens of millions of dollars over the cost of constructing a new tunnel.

Yep, we were going to go through the tunnel! Two and a half miles long underneath a huge mountain. It only recently opened to automobile traffic, it originally had been built for the military, and then for trains only. It was later redesigned to allow cars to drive on the same tracks as the train. It's only a single lane wide. So we have to take turns...

Tickets can be bought online in advance, or you can buy them once you are there from a toll booth. We were charged $13 for an RV without towing anything behind it. You only need to pay for a ticket to get through the tunnel into Whittier. It's free to come back... 

We were told to take our place in line in Lane Number 3. First, they started taking the big tour buses through. Next, they were taking the cars. Motorhomes and people pulling fishing boats were last.

We had to wait until the light turned green. All vehicles are spaced apart in the tunnel and you're not allowed to speed up or catch up to the other person ahead of you. I think it helps keep down on the exhaust emissions. 

NOW IT WAS OUR TURN!

As soon as we got in, some people were backed up already. We paused and waited and let them pull forward more until it was time for us to evenly space ourselves apart.

We went deeper and deeper into the bowels of the mountain.  Thoughts of having an earthquake crossed my mind, and we would be inside when it would happen. I know that's crazy thinking, but it does go through your mind. 

We were happy to see that the tunnels were well lit. There are sections of spaces where if you had to pull off in an emergency I suppose you could to one side. Otherwise you were to just keep on going and not stop.   The walls changed from smooth concrete over to craggy chopped up rock surfaces. 

It seemed like forever, but it really was only 2.5 miles at 25 miles an hour. So that comes out to approximately 6 minutes. I have the entire time speeded up 10X on the video link down below on the YouTube section that goes with this blog.

YES! 

WE COULD SEE THE LIGHT 

 AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!!

AHHHHHH!!! Greenness. Daylight. Fresh air. For people who are claustrophobic, this must feel like a big relief to get to the end.

Okay, now we are in Whittier. Now what? We were suddenly bathed in icy cold and windy conditions! The air temperature had dropped almost 20° from one side of the mountain to the other.

Everything was damp and moist from the sea air as well as blasting winds of 30 to 40 mph. We had known by looking at a map to first pull over to the left there was a vacant parking area near a small camping place by the airstrip. We aimed to go there first and get our bearings.

It was really very, very pretty. But it was also very very cold!  I hopped out to take some pictures, but Steve opted to stay inside with the dog. He had actually helped me open and close the camper door to get in and out because the wind would have ripped it right out of my hands!

It was very pretty along the shoreline, but we really couldn't get out and enjoy it. We had planned to make a picnic lunch and sit outside. Instead we cooked and ate inside --- and just looked out of the windows. We could see the rest of Whittier off in the distance.

We started up the motorhome and drove the rest of the way into the small town of Whittier. Here was the train on it's way to go through the tunnel. We had seen the same train going past us at Bird Creek. This one had cars with tourists in it. 

We drove up into town. There's not a lot to the town other than a very large harbor and a few small businesses. I think one restaurant and a bait shop. Really not a lot to see other than this huge unusual building in the middle of town. 

This is called the Begich Towers. About 85% to 90% of the residents of the entire town live in this building!  It has condo units and some are rented apartments. It has everything in one building including a grocery store, post office, medical clinic, police station etc Then there is a tunnel that goes through to the school next door for the children. They go through the tunnel so they don't have to walk outside in the winter. 

A little further into town there were some newer apartment buildings, but there really weren't any residences or neighborhoods or subdivisions. Just the two streets in town and the harbor.

The town of Whittier, Alaska, is known for having nearly the entire population living in a single apartment building.

The building is called Begich Towers, a 14-story apartment complex that houses about 90% of the town's residents (total: 272). This has earned Whittier the nickname of a "town under one roof".

The building, originally constructed as an army barracks, now serves as a cozy condominium featuring a post office, general store, police station, laundromat, health clinic, mayor's office, and a heated indoor pool.

Whittier, Alaska is accessible only by air or through a single-lane tunnel that stretches over two miles through neighboring Maynard Mountain. The town's weather conditions can be harsh during winter, making the Begich Towers a convenient and practical living solution for the residents.

In addition to the Begich Towers, there is a second condo building in the town where the remaining residents live. The town's school and gym are located in a separate structure but are connected to the Begich Towers by a tunnel, allowing for easy access during the winter months..

Up behind the town is this huge abandoned building, that is full of asbestos. It is called the Buckner Building. It was part of the military base that was here that established in the area. It's no longer used but they can't do anything with the building other than possibly tear it down. We drove up past it just to eyeball it. Some people get out and goof around in there, but I think it's pretty dangerous.

We drove down along the harbor. There weren't many people around. We saw a few parking lots full of boats in dry dock. And a lot more of them parked in the harbor. We were told there was one shop that sold fresh seafood, but it was closed at the time we were there. We were thinking about adding a few more things to our freezer now that we had space. Oh well, plenty of towns along the Oceanside on the Kenai Peninsula that we can get seafood from yet.

We drove the entire loop around town twice. It's only a couple blocks long. So then we decided there really wasn't much more we wanted to see. We certainly didn't want to camp there in the super strong windy conditions and the icy cold air. 

We hopped back up into the tunnel and headed right back through the mountain!!!

We got out on the other side and took the first left to drive back by Portage Glacier and the lake. We were now on the protected side of the mountain. Everything was warm again!!!

Here's the YouTube video 

that goes with today's blog post:

55 miles traveled today 

4,649 miles traveled so far