20150803: Day 57, Embarking M/V Kennicott at Whittier, AK

Monday, 3 August 2015, day 57 of our Alaska road trip. We ended our road trip touring Alaska after visiting Seward, AK...staying at two different campgrounds there; Seward Alaska Resort and Stoney Creek RV Campground. We departed Stoney Creek Campground on the 3rd of August at 11:30am and after travelling through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel we arrived at Whittier by 1:45pm that day.

We had contacted Viking Tours in our attempts to book passage on an Alaska Marine Highway Ferry travelling to Bellingham, WA to avoid the long ride back home over the Alcan Highway, which we travelled to Alaska in the first place. This effort resulted thankfully in gaining passage aboard the Kennicott on the 3rd of August out of Whittier, AK. Seems that folks book their Ferry tours about a year in advance, tough on spontaneous travelers! We had to wait until the 20th of June for confirmation we would be able to ride the boat to Bellingham due to others having cancelled their trip! Yes! There was room! When asked about cabin selection...2-berth or 4-berth...logic dictated that given there were only two of us that we should select a 2-berth cabin. It was only later, and prior to boarding the Ferry, we discovered 2-berth cabins did not include a private bathroom...only the 4-berth cabins provided that luxury! After boarding the Kennicott, and during our initial visit with the Ferry's Purser, we were able to upgrade to a 4-berth cabin (and a private bathroom)...the last one available! Life was good!

We found a place in Whittier near the Alaska Marine Highway's (AMH) terminal office where we could park with our trailer. We could not check in prior to 5:00pm. We elected to tour the small town, sampled seafood from a local restaurant, and visited several of the small shops. We'd visited Whittier several weeks earlier while camping at JBER Richardson's RV campsite near Anchorage, AK, during which time we also visited Whittier's museum featuring WWII artifacts. Well worth the visit!

Around 6:30pm or so we decided to "impound" our Tahoe and Trailer in the AMH's fenced in staging area...once having done so our vehicles were committed to boarding the Ferry when it showed up.

The AMH Ferry, M/V Kennicott, docked around 8:46pm. Boarding began shortly after it disgorged its contents of bikes, motorcycles, cars, buses, trucks, and passengers on foot up the long gangplank to dry land.

I was concerned having learned that we must back our vehicles into the ferry! We were towing a 25' long trailer behind our 17' Tahoe. The trailer has somewhat of a short "tongue" making it sensitive to movements when backing up! At 10:50pm (notice it's still daylight?) with the help and assistance of several Kennicott crew members we were able to successfully navigate the trailer onto the ferry's car deck, about a tenth of a mile journey from the parking lot...ending with a big sigh of relief on my part! Nadine managed to capture this 11-minute event on video!

By 11:07pm we had successfully positioned our RV on the Car Deck and got the dogs settled in the trailer. Of course...they wanted to join us in our cabin, but dogs aren't allowed on the Cabin Deck. It would be 8 hours before we'd get to visit with them again during a dog "potty call."

By 11:45pm we were heading out into the bay, looking for our first stop at Yakutat, AK.

This video compliments another video we've uploaded to YouTube; Disembarking from the Kennicott, which can be found at:

   • 20150808: Day 62, Disembarking AMH's ...