June 17th, 2024 - Journey to Quartz Creek

Another beautiful day!

We packed up and got in line to go thru the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel.

Area around the tunnel:

"The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, better known as the  Whittier Tunnel, is the longest dual-use, or bimodal, highway tunnel in North America at 2.5 miles.  It was first designed to withstand -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."

More information about the tunnel can be found here:

https://dot.alaska.gov/creg/whittiertunnel/history.shtml

https://dot.alaska.gov/creg/whittiertunnel/tundesign.shtml

https://www.cookinlethistoricalsociety.org/articles/opening-of-the-whittier-tunnel-1942-1943

Folks coming thru from the other side:

Our turn - here we go:

Out the other side:

Into Portage Valley:

Thru Begich Mountain - Portage Tunnel:

Portage Area - we will be back later next month to explore:

We are now on the Kenai Peninsula:

The scenery continues to be breathtaking:

Reflection Lake! (Summit Lake):

We made our way to Quartz Creek Campground in the Chugach National Forest.  I checked online for reservations but there were no openings and this campground does not take First Come First Serve anymore.  They do have a dump station and fresh water and that was our purpose to stop.  Well, on a whim, we decided to go thru the campground and found an open site - YAHOO!!

We talked to the campground host and he told us that the best thing to do if we want to stay at a campground that is marked full is stop by the campground host's space.  He told us that people cancel or leave early or are not coming in until a later date and it does not change on the computer listing.  Nice to know.

Kenai Lake - down from our site:

Yes, the water is that color.

Once we set up, we decided to take a little ride around the area:

Kenai River:

Amazing color, isn't it:

Back home, I took a little walk to the lake:

Magpie - he sat so pretty for me:

Flowers everywhere:

Life doesn't get any better than this - we are so blessed!

What a wonderful day!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 59 Miles

Alaska: Portage Glacier Road, Seward Highway - AK-3; Sterling Highway - AK-3; Quartz Creek Road.

Tomorrow we continue our journey so stay tuned and enjoy today.