Alaska 2019: Smoking

We woke up this morning in Seward and a dense Haze of smoke was still in the air. We decided to leave Seward and head towards Homer. We soon found out the all the smoke in Seward was coming from an area that we needed to travel through to get to Homer. As we were driving the traffic came to a stop. We waited about 1-1/2 hours at a dead stop, then traffic started moving again. We soon found out that it was only moving because the state police was making everyone turn around and leave. We then decided to leave the area entirely and come back to Homer later. We ended up going to Whittier, Alaska. Whittier is known as the gateway to the Prince William Sound. Many glacier sightseeing cruises leave from Whittier. As we approached the town we could see many glaciers in the mountains. Numerous waterfalls could be seen below the glaciers. We also found out that you can't just drive into Whittier. The only way to get into the town is through a 2-1/2 mile train tunnel. About every hour they let a row of cars enter the town through the tunnel. It also costs you $13 to go through the tunnel.

We did find an excellent campground outside the city called Walliwaw Campground. It sits below a glacier and a salmon filled stream runs beside it. The stream is about 20 feet from our campsite. There have been numerous bear sightings in the campground. Just this afternoon there was a bear spotted a few campsites down from ours.