The land portion of our Alaskan Cruise Tour is finally underway. We experienced the longest highway tunnel in North America, horrible weather turned quite pleasant for great views off the deck at our lodge, and an eleven-mile float trip down the Kenai River was one of our favorite excursions so far. No bears or moose, but there’s still time.

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To start at the beginning of this trip, visit The Trip of Our Lives 2023.
To start at the beginning of the cruise portion of this trip, visit North to Alaska 2023.

Goodbye Grand Princess

We docked in Whittier after midnight and had to be ready to leave our room by 8am. After grabbing our final free coffees and pastries at the International Café, we headed to the Explorer Lounge for the two-hour wait to disembark.

A very cheerful Hanna from Indiana picked us up for our motor coach ride to the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge in Cooper Landing, AK. Her perky personality transformed this windy and rainy – all-around dismal day – into a pleasant journey. She gave us a five-minute tour of Whittier which included an apartment building where all 300 residents live and the dirty-white asbestos-filled Army barracks from WWII.

When we pulled up at a stop light, Hanna told us of our next adventure. Our eleven o’clock time-slot allowed entry to a short-cut thru Maynard Mountain. Sitting front and center, Hanna took pictures of a tunnel for all who wanted one, and several waterfalls entertained us while we waited for our turn to enter.

Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel

If you’re driving the stretch between Whittier and Anchorage, you’ll be driving through the 2.5-mile Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel – the longest highway tunnel in North America. Originally constructed by the military during World War II for trains, the tunnel provided the main supply route for goods arriving in the protected port of Whittier.

In the 1960s when the military left Whittier, the tunnel was made part of the Alaska highway system with a massive renovation. The rails were brought flush with the road surface, so that cars could now use the long tunnel as well – making it one of the few dual-use tunnels in the country – while saving tens of millions of dollars over the cost of constructing a separate tunnel. Instead of traveling over or around Maynard Mountain, this six-minute drive thru it was quite an experience!

The tunnel is controlled by a sophisticated computer system, with northbound traffic entering on the hour and southbound on the half hour. Luckily trains are infrequent, because they will cause delays. This was the first tunnel designed for temperatures as low as -40°F, winds up to 150 mph, with jet turbine ventilation. “A number of safe houses were built along the tunnel in case of wrecks or natural disasters, as well as a three-foot-wide emergency sidewalk and emergency turnouts for vehicles that make travel through the expanse seem just a touch less claustrophobic.”

A Dreary, but Beautiful Drive

Once we were through the mountain we returned to the gloomy weather. Pictures taken on a moving bus, especially with raindrops on the windows are never ideal, but they do show it like it was. Some may wish for sunshine all the time, but I’ve come to love the moody pictures of Alaska.

Home at Last!

We arrived safe and sound, and said goodbye to Hanna. A Princess rep boarded our bus with our welcome packet and the keys to our room – so check-in was quick and easy! Our welcome packet contained a map of the area, our excursion information, as well as our departure times and luggage tags so we’re well-organized when that time comes. This became pretty routine as we progressed through the land portion of this cruise tour.

Our cabin was very nice and roomy with a wood-burning stove and a sun porch. We really didn’t unpack a whole lot since we were staying only two nights here, so we decided to check out our surroundings a bit and ended at Rafters for lunch and a beer.

A Beer with a View!

Although our lunch was very good, one of the highlights of this lodge was the deck high above amazing views of the Kenai River, where we’ll float tomorrow. We took our beers outside for a bit, but the nip in the air shortened up our stay. We’ll try again tomorrow.

Down by the River

After staring in awe at the river from up top, we thought we’d take a stroll down the road to two overlooks for a closer look at the emerald waters of the Kenai River. It turned out to be quite a hike down, but the river was absolutely amazing! We were not looking forward to the return trip, so we called a shuttle to haul our lazy butts back up to the lodge. We are on vacation after all!

Missing our Cruise Time

Dinner at the Rod & Reel was very good, but it was also pretty expensive. After being well fed with plenty to drink for free on the cruise portion of this trip, we were missing last week’s free options already. Without transportation to other options down the road, without even a bottle of water in our room, Princess had us over a barrel. But we knew this was coming, so put away the violins.

Laundry and a Hike

The next day started with a later breakfast at the Rod & Reel, which was fabulous! We took some time this morning to do three loads in the Guest Laundry after my rookie mistake of expecting vacant machines on the last day on our ship. Since today’s machines had timers, I knew I had plenty of time to explore a nearby trail before dealing with the transfer to the dryers.

At the start of almost every trail on this trip, there was an assortment of walking sticks available for whoever wanted one. Obviously they make walking easier for some – providing a little stability, but especially if walking alone they can also come in handy if a bear is nearby. The last thing you’d want to do is startle a bear, and by rustling your feet and tapping the stick on nearby logs and trees, a bear would hear you coming.

Research says that bears don’t want an encounter with humans any more than we want one with them, and they would rather avoid us if possible. I actually turned on a little music to further ensure my presence would be known. As much as I would love to see a bear up close, I really wouldn’t!

Kenai River Scenic Float

Well, we’ve seen the gorgeous Kenai River from the top and at ground-level. How about we get real close and do a raft trip! Since we are both considered senior citizens (although I can’t say I believe that), we decided on a float trip rather than white water. While I was not a big white water fan even when I was younger, Jim was. He almost died several times while pursuing his passion in the intense waters in Oregon. Of course that was before my time with him when he was a more adventurous young adult.

Today was a leisurely three-hour float into the heart of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. When we woke up this morning it was 40 degrees, windy and rainy. By the time we put in at Cooper Landing it was perfect – but then I had on jeans and warm socks, a tank top, a long tee, a hooded sweatshirt, my winter coat, chest waders, a rain coat, river boots, and (of course) a life jacket. Classy, huh? I donned my new Alaska stocking cap and we were ready to go!

Photographic Evidence

Unlike our last float trip, our guide said to take plenty of pictures. On several occasions she warned us about a splashy area that may be coming up so that we could stow away our cameras. Most importantly, she did a great job of keeping us on TOP of the water which was much appreciated. It was a perfect day in a perfectly beautiful setting, but that water was COLD!

A View of our Roof

As we rounded “our” corner, we could see the tip of the roof from the deck where we sat last night, as well as a few of the scenes from our first riverside walk. I can’t wait for another beer back on that deck to see where we’ve been!

First Day of Fishing Season

Today was the first day of the sockeye salmon fishing season, so our guide said it may be very busy on the river. To us it didn’t seem that busy, but I guess there are times when folks line the banks on both sides of the river. No fishing is allowed from a boat, so all of the boats that we saw had their hooks up and out of the water.

It was a glorious day, with lots of birds including bald eagles. Flocks of seagulls were waiting downstream from some fishermen cleaning their catch. This wonderful eleven-mile float was surrounded by the snow-capped mountain scenery of the Kenai Mountains. Once an important summer-gathering place for the Dena’ina Indians, the upper Kenai is world famous for its sockeye salmon. We didn’t see a single bear or moose, but there’s still time!

Back at the Lodge

These photos were taken around 7:45 the next morning. I hope the folks in those three boats dressed even warmer than we did because that sky does not look nearly as inviting as ours did on our 1:15pm trip yesterday!

Next up: Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge

Happy trails,
Barb