The Chugach Mountains

This photograph was taken from the Alaska Statehood Monument looking east and northeast to the Chugach Mountain Range. The Alpenglow ski area is on one of those mountainsides; it has 3 trails and a 1,500 foot vertical drop. The Chugach Range extends from the eastern half of the Kenai Peninsula to the Alaskan Panhandle and provides breathtaking scenic backdrops for Seward, Whittier, Portage, Valdez and Cordova.

Unfortunately, mountains are difficult to build on or through, so in towns like Whittier with only one road coming into town, two miles of which are tunneled through a mountain, tourists create horrendous traffic jams and crowded sidewalks. Whittier recently imposed a fee for tourists visiting the town, be it by automobile, train or boat. Who can blame Whittier's residents? They're just several hundred people who want to do their own thing in peace, mostly fishing, but from May to September there are more tourists than residents, which royally fouls up Whittier's peaceful pace. Thanks to the fee you pay filling Whittier's coffers, most of the residents will tolerate your presence!

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