Hi Shadrak
The reason I try to spend as little time as possible in Whittier is hard to explain.
First of all, there’s not much town there. Yes, there is a little store there but expect to pay a lot more for anything….and, on top of that, there is not a great selection goods. If there is any way for you to do it, try to stock up in Anchorage. I’ll assume you are arriving through Anchorage anyway.
Back to why I’d not spend a lot of time in Whittier. The town is located at the head of a inlet (fiord). The mountains surrounding the town are tall and steep. Add a low cloud deck and it’s down right claustrophobic. The weather almost always seems to be better after you get out a ways.
The same mountains and basic geographic location of Whittier seems to funnel the winds and make them stronger.
Then the harbor itself is small and crowded.
Most of the crowd in Whittier is tourists off of tour ships and Anchorage day fishermen. Think people dressed in clear plastic rain gear with 5 cameras hanging off their body. …… Or, noisy power boaters that always seem to be in a hurry.
Now…. I’m not an expert but I’m going to say your girlfriend is a little under-experienced for this area. I’d consider finding a guided outfit for several reasons.
They are good at determining people’s ability and taking them to places that are appropriate. They can show you things and take you places you might overlook.
Salt water kayaking in this area has some unique challenges. The shore is very steep in most places. It can be many miles between those serene little coves that have protected gravel beaches. You can’t just say…. I’m tired, let’s go ashore and take a break. When the winds are kicking up and the waves are steep my friends who are very experienced kayakers have run into trouble getting ashore. Also, we have huge tides. At times we will have –6 low tides and +18 high tides. So yes, there can be tidal currents.
I see people doing day paddles right out of the harbor. I’m not sure how many folks go on multi day trips right out of the harbor though. There are water taxi services that take people out to "jump start" their trip.
There is Surprise Cove State Marine park about 13 miles out of Whittier. But that is straight line…. Not hugging the shore and you must cross the entrance to Blackstone bay….. so you need to be able to handle open water and some bigger waves.
At Surprise, there are nice wood tent platforms (a real plus in the wet muskeg and heavy undergrowth etc. that you can run into.) There are also some trails and some nice hills to climb.
It takes me a day and a half to get to Nellie Juan or Harriman in my sail boat…. And that is in good weather. A water taxi "go fast" boat can do it in a few hours.
For a closer to Whittier ….and still pretty spectacular area, there is Blackstone Bay. I’ve seen kayakers in that area.
I’d also recommend getting a copy of a book : A Cruising
Guide to Prince William Sound, $39.95 by Jim and Nancy Lethcoe.
PS we have bears …. I have not taken a single trip over the years where I have not seen a bear. Never been a problem… but then again, I don’t sleep ashore.
When are you going to be here? June tends to be slightly more dry. …but you can still run into snow right down to shoreline that hasn’t completely melted off. Additionally, days are very very long. August, things will be cooling down and there will actually be a few hours of dark at night. It might be a little rainier too.
A handheld marine Radio would be a good thing to have along. I’ve heard kayakers anounce open water crossings so as to alert the "go fast" crowd of the presence. Also, you can get weather reports …. And if you get in a jamb, maybe get some assistance.
Cell phones work close in to Whittier….. and way out in the middle of PWS…. But not so much back in the bays.
Here's last August in Blackstone Bay
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Kayaking in Alaska
