Whittier Blackstone Glacier Tour

The dead-end trip to Whittier, Alaska to catch a glacier tour was well worth it. On our 6-hour tour we saw the immense Blackstone Glacier and Beloit Glacier, a large kittiwake rookery, and some other wildlife. The only place for an RV overnight is a stoic parking lot, so try first at the Portage Glacier campsites before you spend the $12 tunnel toll.

The tunnel from Portage Glacier to Whittier is only one skinny lane. But vehicles need to go both ways, trains need to go both ways, and there is no other land access to Whittier. So what do they do?\nThey time-slice the tunnel. Vehicles going one direction get it for 15 minutes, then vehicles going the other direction get it for 15 minutes. Then the train gets it. They build in some time for maintenance. Everybody in Whittier knows when the next tunnel opening is, and the tour boats time their arrival back in port such that you can easily get out of town without waiting for 45 minutes in your vehicle.\nHere we are waiting in line for the tunnel to open. They divide the waiting lanes by vehicle type - cars, RVs, busses, trucks...\nIt's funny to drive single file about 5 miles precisely straight over a road with a railroad track down the center. But you better know what you're in store for at the other end, because it's $12 to get through. There are no RV parks at the other end. There is nothing at the other end except for a few tour boats, so that better be your certain destination.

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The tunnel from Portage Glacier to Whittier is only one skinny lane. But vehicles need to go both ways, trains need to go both ways, and there is no other land access to Whittier. So what do they do?\nThey time-slice the tunnel. Vehicles going one direction get it for 15 minutes, then vehicles going the other direction get it for 15 minutes. Then the train gets it. They build in some time for maintenance. Everybody in Whittier knows when the next tunnel opening is, and the tour boats time their arrival back in port such that you can easily get out of town without waiting for 45 minutes in your vehicle.\nHere we are waiting in line for the tunnel to open. They divide the waiting lanes by vehicle type - cars, RVs, busses, trucks...\nIt's funny to drive single file about 5 miles precisely straight over a road with a railroad track down the center. But you better know what you're in store for at the other end, because it's $12 to get through. There are no RV parks at the other end. There is nothing at the other end except for a few tour boats, so that better be your certain destination.

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The tunnel from Portage Glacier to Whittier is only one skinny lane. But vehicles need to go both ways, trains need to go both ways, and there is no other land access to Whittier. So what do they do?\nThey time-slice the tunnel. Vehicles going one direction get it for 15 minutes, then vehicles going the other direction get it for 15 minutes. Then the train gets it. They build in some time for maintenance. Everybody in Whittier knows when the next tunnel opening is, and the tour boats time their arrival back in port such that you can easily get out of town without waiting for 45 minutes in your vehicle.\nHere we are waiting in line for the tunnel to open. They divide the waiting lanes by vehicle type - cars, RVs, busses, trucks...\nIt's funny to drive single file about 5 miles precisely straight over a road with a railroad track down the center. But you better know what you're in store for at the other end, because it's $12 to get through. There are no RV parks at the other end. There is nothing at the other end except for a few tour boats, so that better be your certain destination.\nHere you can see the huge line of cars and our relatively lonely RV.

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The Alaska Railroad stops in Whittier to shuttle passengers back and forth. It is also the main artery to get goods out of the port and into the rest of the state.

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This map shows the route our tour boat took, The large Blackstone and Beloit Glaciers are in the lower left.

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The Alaska state flag marks the stern of the boat as it sails from Whittier.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry.

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On the Major Marine tour, they had assigned seating in the bottom of the tour boat, but most people hung out on top or in the front. On top they had a sheltered area which was good to get out of the wind, which was quite prevalent at the glaciers themselves.\n\nAssigned seating was good for dinner. which you could pay extra for. I don't recommend it, even though it is all-you-can-eat, because they start serving the "dinner" at 1:30 shortly after the boat leaves the dock. They serve dessert on the way back. That's too early for me for dinner, and too late for lunch.

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An endangered stellar sea lion halued itself out onto a buoy in Shotgun Cove (see the map).

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An ancient shipwreck lies perfectly still on the beach of Shotgun Cove.

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Wildlife was a minor factor on this Major Marine Glacier tour. Here is a humpback whale taking a dive, which is not common to see in this part of Prince William Sound. Wildlife sightings were usually fairly distant, but a nice touch nonetheless. If you want to see wildlife, take the Kenai Fjord tour in Seward.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry.

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Some other boat passes one of the myriad of waterfalls in Prince William Sound.

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A barge hauls containers out of Whittier.

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The most gushing waterfall on the tour is called Hidden Falls, and they make a special picture stop. Everyone gets to have their picture taken with the falls behind them.

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A great shot of the coastline near Hidden Falls with our Blackstone Glacier destination in the background.

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Hidden Falls up close.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry. Look at how many of them there are in just this one little area.

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Blackstone Glacier looms impressively in the distance.

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This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip, and I was salivating as I took it because I knew it was going to be special.\nIf you take a picture of something that is truly massive, nobody will be able to tell how big it really is unless they have a reference point with which to associate. Here , the 100-passenger tour boat lets you know full well that you are looking at a glacier that is beyond enormous. And the image leaves you wondering how all that ice stays up without falling into the sea. And there is purposefully no sky in this image to make it seem like the glacier rises forever.

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To the right of Blackstone Glacier we saw a huge waterfall.

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Our fellow tourists brave the wind to view the upcoming Blackstone Glacier.

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Closeup of the Blackstone Glacier. An even more impressive closeup is in my panorama section.

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Closeup of the base of Blackstone Glacier

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I like how the top of Blackstone Glacier has cracked its formerly smooth surface to reveal the chaos between.

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We saw a number of sea kayakers out at the glaciers. Here 2 of them enjoy the few far away from the glacier itself.

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A piece of brash ice floats seemingly alone in Blackstone Bay drawn into the waterfalls beyond.

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Brash ice surrounds the tour boat.\n\nBrash ice are the smallest classification of floating ice. Next comes growlers (medium), then bergie bits (big), then icebergs (massive). We saw no bergie bits or growlers. If you want to see ipictures of real icebergs, visit my Lemaire Channel, Antarctica pages.

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Here you can see a growler amongst the brash ice.\n\nBrash ice are the smallest classification of floating ice. Next comes growlers (medium), then bergie bits (big), then icebergs (massive). We saw no bergie bits or growlers. If you want to see ipictures of real icebergs, visit my Lemaire Channel, Antarctica pages.

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A sea kayaker enjoys the pristine view of a glacial waterfall.

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A sea kayaker enjoys the pristine view of a glacial waterfall.

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We could have sat all day in the noiseless afternoon soaking in the complete lack of activity of Blackstone Glacier, but we all elected to make our way to Beloit Glacier around the corner. Beloit calved for us a few times, but nothing major.\nCalving is when pieces of the glacier fall of into the sea to become icebergs.

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The sea kayakers near Beloit Glacier were pretty nuts getting this close to it. A serious calving could have easily created a wave that would have toppled him.

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The sea kayakers near Beloit Glacier were pretty nuts getting this close to it. A serious calving could have easily created a wave that would have toppled him.

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The sea kayakers near Beloit Glacier were pretty nuts getting this close to it. A serious calving could have easily created a wave that would have toppled him.

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A sea kayaker engulfed in the brash ice.

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This kayak seems pretty well-equipped.

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A view of our boat's upper deck with Beloit Glacier in the background. Doesn't look that big in this picture does it? We are pretty far away.

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The American flag waves in front of Beloit Glacier.

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If you pay attention, you wll see some interesting birds. This is a pigeon guillemot. Notice his bright-red feet and white wings?

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A growler lurks in the water. As the ice melts, an iceberg will become unstable and roll over. That gives erosion a different angle to attack.

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The Alaskan state flag waves goodbye to Beloit Glacier.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry.

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There are tons of waterfalls that feed Prince William Sound, but you'll only see them if the snow is melting or if it's raining. Otherwise they are frozen or dry. Here you can see a dall sheep grazing nearby giving you some perspective on the size of the waterfall.

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Kittiwakes seem to be everywhere along the coasts of Alaska. At least where the tour boats go. I never got tired of watching the activity of these small seagulls.

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Kittiwakes picked a scenic spot for their rookery. The inexperienced kittiwakes build their nests on the bottom of the rocks where stormy seas easily wipe them out.

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Kittiwakes picked a scenic spot for their rookery. The inexperienced kittiwakes build their nests on the bottom of the rocks where stormy seas easily wipe them out.

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Kittiwakes fly by the rookery. This shot reminded me of the Death Star from Star Wars, and every time I see this picture I hear the Emperor's Theme playing.

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Kittiwakes picked a scenic spot for their rookery. The inexperienced kittiwakes build their nests on the bottom of the rocks where stormy seas easily wipe them out.

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No matter which direction you look at a kittiwake rookery, this is what you see. Wall-to wall seagulls.

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A large waterfall crashes down amongst the kittiwakes. I wonder how they get any sleep?

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A large waterfall divides the scenic kittiwake rookery.

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A sea kayaker gets a beautiful, yet noisy view of the waterfall kittiwake rookery. Lucky for him he's wearing a hat.

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I never saw 4 waterfalls feeding one large one before.

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