The ship arrived in Whittier in the early hours of Saturday. We disembarked at 8.45 am (very sad) but our train to Anchorage was not until 6.40pm so we had a few hours to kill. We spent the morning looking around Whittier which is not very big so didn’t take long. We had booked a trip on a catermaran leaving at 12.30 so didn’t have too much time to fill. The trip was great. The cat. travelled at up to 40 miles an hour and promised us 26 glaciers in a day which they achieved. Again the weather was good. The route of our trip can be seen by clicking this link (when you click the link, click “Map” in the top right of the map and select “Satellite” to get a better idea ot the terrain).and we saw an abundance of sea life. The cutest were the sea otters. There were lots of them and many with babies.

We also saw humpbacks and seals which were sitting on the ice floes (not the whales). The glaciers were great and we got up really close because the boat was an ice breaker in disguise and was able to get through the brash ice which most of the other boats are not able to do. We again saw some of the glaciers calving. The train journey was lovely with most of it following the coast (when you click the link, click “Map” in the top right of the map and select “Satellite” to get a better idea ot the terrain).
The scenery was lovely but there were many places where all the trees had died. This was after the earth quake in 1964 where the ground sank about 12 ft and allowed the sea water in which has gradually killed a lot of trees and shrubs off. They say it will take about 100 yrs for the ground to recover. Well, will finish now. Hope you enjoy.