From Anchorage, we drove along Turnagain Arm (home of bore tides, thanks to the second largest tidal range in North America -- 39 feet!) to The Tunnel To Whittier. I believe it's the only vehicular tunnel in Alaska, and at 2.5 miles, it's the longest vehicular tunnel in North America (I'm not sure what a train is if it isn't a vehicle, though). In 2000, The Tunnel opened to cars after being reconfigured to allow a single lane of motor vehicles to travel directly over the train tracks. The Tunnel now has a rotating schedule of train and vehicle traffic in each direction. Air is exhausted by turbines, and there are eight safehouses, each a fire-resistant room for 55 people, with its own air supply, emergency supplies, PA system, and telephone to Tunnel Control.
Before The Tunnel opened to cars, you had to take the railroad to Whittier, which of course put a dent in your plans if you brought as much stuff as we did. It makes Prince William Sound much more accessible to Anchorage residents (40% of the state's population). The problem is that the town just isn't very big, and needless to say, the increase in traffic has had an impact. Whittier has more slips in the Small Boat Harbor (350) than permanent residents (300), and for good reason -- there isn't any space for more people to live. Whittier is situated on a small delta and completely surrounded by mountains and water.
On the map, the purple is our water taxi trip from Whittier, and the yellow is our kayaking route.
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