Reim Photo Image: Whittier Alaska!

In the fall of 2014 I was fortunate to have the VA send me to Alaska on an assignment. My first trip to Alaska but hopefully not my last! To allow for the weather I was also fortunate that my travel allowed a couple of days of free time both at the beginning and at the end of the work assignment. One of the engineers that was working with us also had planned on taking some time after our work was done so we decided to travel together for a couple of days of sightseeing. Since it was late October the main road to Denali National Park was already closed eliminating that from our plans. So we headed South toward Seward along the Seward Highway. The road to Seward is spectacularly scenic drive and I would recommend it for anyone with limited time. On our way from Anchorage to Seward my traveling companion and I stopped at Portage to look at the glaciers. There are several glaciers at this location and one still has a small chunk that you can walk right up to. I doubt that it will be there in even a year or two more and the information on how far and fast the glaciers have receded in Alaska should convince anyone, scientist or not, that something dramatic is taking place on our planet. I have posted a couple of images of the ice here as well as photos of Portage Lake and the surrounding mountains. At Portage Lake the road continues to Whittier Alaska.

What prompted this post is that a friend mine sent me this link to a video about Whittier AK, Whittier Alaska - Where everyone in the town lives in the same building. Since we were not on any particular schedule we decided what the heck lets go see where this road takes us. For people from the lower 48, Alaska in general has a sense of oddity. I refer to this as the “Northern Exposure” feeling. That is because to us this place is so empty, so far north with very different sun angles, different weather, and the openness. We traveled just a short distance when we come upon a toll booth for the tunnel to Whittier. We both deduced- incorrectly, that if there was a tunnel there must be something special, a big reason if reason to need to get to the other side. The other side of a very tall, snow capped, wedge of solid Basalt/graninte. The toll taker asked us if we know anything about Whittier. “Nope!” we answer. He smiles/smirks, takes our money, explains that every half hour the direction switches in the tunnel and hands us some tourist information. We pull up and get in the queue to wait for our passage to the other side. When our turn comes we move forward and enter the tunnel. Wow! Immediately we both think to ourselves this is one hell of tunnel and what is the back story is? Sadly while we were both impressed by the tunnel the town on the other side was just a weird empty place. At least in late October.

Apparently during WWII the US military decided it needed a deep water, does not freeze, port. Our waitress at the only restaurant open told us this It needed to be mostly secret and out of the way in this part of Alaska for the submarines in WWII. Remember Japan is not far away and, at least according to Sarah Palin, if you stand on your porch you can see Russia. Immediately upon entering the tunnel it becomes apparent that this was not a small undertaking or your usual tunnel. Looking to be 20 or more feet tall. Tall enough to easily clear the largest trucks and trains, you get the feeling someone did this with some serious intent. It is big enough to say a submarine through? When you get to the other side the town is most bizarre because it did not exist until they US government built the tunnel and the "secret" military base on the other side. In 1060 they closed the secret military base. Leaving behind the buildings and the tunnel.

Now the town consists of about 200 people who mostly live in one big high rise building. Yes the high rise building in the middle of nowhere seems very strange! But the land area on this side of the mountain is limited. Still there would be enough for the number of houses a town of this population would need. The highrise building was the former civilian residences for the soldiers and sailors. There is another large building which is now vacant that was once referred to as the "city under one roof". As I said the military base closed in 1960 and the town was badly damaged in the Good Friday earthquake and tsunami the struck Alaska in 1964. The tunnel is 13,300 feet long and is the second longest tunnel in North America. You have to wonder what the congressional budget request must have looked like. One tunnel, through a solid basalt 5000 foot mountain over 2 miles long, large enough to get a submarine through and it needs to be done yesterday. Like Alaska’s bridge to nowhere this now seems to be a tunnel to nowhere. They do use the port for shipping. The tunnel is the longest car/train tunnel in North America loading the boats with cars and materials to folks living in a lot of other coastal and island towns that are only accessible by boat or plane. Alaska has a lot of places that are only accessible by boat or plane. Fifty percent of the adult population or licensed pilots!

I hope you enjoy the photos.