Prince William Sound, Alaska July-August 2012

For those of you who may not know- Erica and I love the sun. We chase the sun, and worship it when it shines. We complain (a lot) when the sun is not shining. And so, when we decided to head to Anchorage, Alaska for a Native Health & Wellness conference, I was a little surprised when Erica suggested we begin the trip with a few days of kayaking in Prince William Sound- about 1.5 hours outside of Anchorage.  Yet the odds of sun were in our favor, it is the beginning of August after all...

Our adventure started soon after our 1:30 AM arrival in Anchorage (raining and 54 degrees) when we found our "hotel"- The Inlet Inn- the cheapest option on Orbitz for good reason! We entered a room with a broken window open below to a street filled with chain smokers; moist, fuzzy carpet; visible mold on the box spring; and a green, stained cotton blanket on the bed. We could not lock the door. Eventually, we expired from exhaustion into a rigid sleep, hoping to wake without acquiring some previously undocumented infectious disease.

At first light (raining and 48 degrees) we provision, buy stove fuel (See Logistics & Lessons Learned at the end of this post for more details.), and are en route to our destination- Whittier, AK- in time to make the 11:30 tunnel, which is no joke.  My earthquake anxiety kicked in full throttle until I read the helpful safety flyer... I learned there is a station every 400 feet that includes a fire extinguisher, a fire alarm, and an emergency phone, and even better, every 1600 feet there is a "safe house" that is ventilated to the outside. These details are important and reassuring when you consider the tunnel passes through a ridge within the Chugach range for 2.5 miles as one lane traffic with bare rock overhead:

15 minutes later we are in the thriving metropolis of Whittier, AK at 60 degrees N. latitude. 

We arrived at the Prince William Sound Kayak Center to retrieve our kayak, and were happily surprised by an incredibly well organized outfitter equipped with a roof(!), hot coffee and the bright orange, rubberized rain gear one needs to maintain relative comfort while kayaking in Alaska in the summer!

 Our destination, Blackstone Glacier, is 20 miles one way from Whittier by boat (in the rain) and so we decided to take a water taxi to the 15 mile point on Williard Island so we can paddle to the glacier and then out over the next 2.5 days. 

(Erica affectionately referred to these suits as our "Umpalumpa Suits", although I could not get her to sing the song...)

We beach on Willard Island, dump our boat and gear, set up our requisite British Columbia-inspired blue tarp (...nothing but blue skies...)   and then, believe it our not, decided to go for a paddle...

...to prepare for paddling I have on over 12 separate articles of clothing...(Patagonia capilene t-shirt; Ibex hooded, long-sleeve wool shirt; Patagonia Puffball vest; Patagonia long-sleeve medium weight fleece jacket; Ibex wool tights; nylon pants; rubberized bib pants; paddle jacket; wool socks; rubber boots; wool hat; and a water-proof safari hat). Here is Erica showing off this season's finest:

... and although we were in Alaska, and we knew we intended to paddle to a glacier, the icebergs still came as a shocker!

Back safely to camp, we settle in for a delicious, though damp, meal of Asian-style beef and mustard green stew... mmm, beef...

And there was no sun- just a dim, grey light, constant rain and now 48 degrees ... on July 30. What were we thinking? ...but we had blue skies at our campsite... even if it was from the BC blue nylon... 

The next morning we started to understand why people live here. We woke from our travel and bed-bug-induced exhaustion, rolled out of the tent and ... couldn't believe our eyes!

The grey fog and 200 yards of visibility from the day before had given way to bluebird skies (no tarp!), and seven (yes 7) visible glaciers from our beach campsite!

Talk about bi-polar, this place is up and down, and today it is paradise! Glassy water, 60 degrees, radiant sun, waterfalls in every direction, and calving glaciers making the only sounds:

 After a quick morning bath... 

...we once again mounted our trusty steed and headed out for a full day on the water. Our plan was to paddle about 15 miles back to Blackstone Glacier, complete a circumnavigation of Williard Island, and head back toward Whittier with the goal of coming around Decision Point in case of high easterly winds the next day. Here are some highlights:

We shared our experience with seals, otter, and various sea birds, including this one that flew around us in circles until it perched on our stern:

And the winds did come... the next morning we woke to 47 degrees, 20+ knots (25kt g) of easterly winds, with wind waves up to 3 feet. Clearly Erica was excited:

We had about an 8 mile paddle back to Whittier, and there was nothing to do but gear up, put our heads down, and go. Fortunately, once we off the shore and rounded the corner out of the cove, the wind was to our backs and we were able to surf the flooding current and wind waves all the way back to Whittier:

Once back in Whittier, we shared a shot of well-deserved Jack Daniels to warm our innards and filled ourselves with hot, heavily peroxidated polyunsaturated fatty acids and glycated carbs (known in some parts as "fish and chips"), we were off back down the road to Anchorage... 

... and within 2 hours we were sitting in a Starbucks again, G3ed, drinking Americanos- wishing we were back in the rain with the otters! 

Erica says she is done with Alaska. That was it. Check, off the list. Not me. 3.5 hours from Seattle, and 1.5 hours from Anchorage is a sea kayaker's wonderland. Prince William Sound has less current than the San Juan Islands in Washington, is a heck of a lot closer than the Lofoten Islands of Norway, and has glaciers crashing into the sea right off your deck! All you need is a full-body rubber suit, a blue tarp, and enough fire in your belly to keep going!

In health and play- Ryan & Erica 

Logistics & Lessons Learned:

Lodging:
Pay the extra $20 for a recognizable brand hotel/motel in Anchorage. Avoid the Inlet Inn.

Gear we took with us:

blue tarp, 100' 8m nylon rope, 2-prs. tent, 2 sleeping bags (we went down and double-bagged in garbage bags and a dry bag), stove, cook kit, thermarest pads, first aid kit, 4-5 dry bags, garbage bags (light and effective), paddle jackets, many wool layers, books, head lamps, VHF radio, strobe light, & paddle gloves)

Food/provisioning:

Provision in Anchorage. Don't count on provisioning in Whittier- there may be a grocery store but we didn't find it, and you won't find compatible stove fuel.  Go to Car's (really a Safeway), which has a surprisingly good selection of fresh food and healthy options. 

For gear, fuel etc.: 

Anchorage Mountaineering opens at 9:00 AM (REI not until 10:00 AM) and sells any required gear and stove fuel.

Sea kayak outfitter:

Prince William Sound Kayak Center : (907) 472-2452
http://www.pwskayakcenter.com/

This group was so highly functional there is no reason to go elsewhere. They have free, hot coffee; rent all fiberglass boats, rubberized rain gear and rubber boots; sell charts; and have lots of local knowledge on camping spots throughout PWS. Besides, it is one of the only places that you can pull your car out of the rain to  re-pack from suitcases to dry bags after getting off a 1:30 AM flight!

Water taxi charters:

Epic Charters: (907) 276-7226

Nice guys. Steep rates (though standard for the area), but they give 40% off on shared rides, and if you charter a pick up, you get met with a cooler filled with ice cold Alaskan Amber!