Possible Winter Visit - Want Opinions (Ketchikan, Valdez: homes, transfer to, construction)

[Nephler]

Ship, just go for it. Rent a car, or RV if you can that time of year, and drive around. Make a loose plan of where you want to go and just do it. Don't worry about winter driving, you have driven in much worst, except for heading to Valdez, they get the snow, then just check the weather. Granted I only lived in the Mat-Su, but I did travel around and the winter is nothing compared with most other northern states. Sure, it gets cold up north toward Fairbanks, but there isn't that much snow to worry about.

Just go for it!

I miss a lot about AK, but I sure do look forward to a "real" winter.

[ShipOfFools42]

^ Thanks Ed. I'm kinda bummed out though that you get more of a real winter in northern Michigan than you do in Alaska. Snow is my favorite part of the cold weather really (well, among other things), and especially watching it fall. My favorite are huge snowstorms, and I was under the impression that Alaska got plenty of those. I mean, OK how about this. Compare a Nor'Easter to a big Alaskan storm. Which one is more impressive? This isn't a deal-breaker, but it's pretty important.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

The reason I was going to go to Whittier is because I am desperate to see at least one of the Prince William Sound area towns, and unless the map is just wrong, there seems to be a road going into Whittier. Portage Glacier Road goes straight there, but the weird part is that about halfway there, the marking on the map turns into dotted lines, which makes me think it's an unimproved trail or something. So I guess my question is, can you drive to Whittier?

Yes, you can drive to Whittier. There's a tunnel about a mile long that you have to go through right before you get to it.

[Nephler]

Two things...

Like Met said, you can drive into Whittier and it really is quite a nice little town.

Not'Easter compared to an Alaskan snow storm. Well, different, Alaska dry snow, but much less, but then again, the snow blows more. But then again, bla, you can hardly beat a good Nor'Easter, or lake effect snows. Most of AK has no idea what a good snow storm is. Most, not all.

Edit...
Around Anc and Mat-Su, be careful driving, way too many people living there have no clue how to drive on ice and snow.

[Frostnip]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

The reason I was going to go to Whittier is because I am desperate to see at least one of the Prince William Sound area towns, and unless the map is just wrong, there seems to be a road going into Whittier. Portage Glacier Road goes straight there, but the weird part is that about halfway there, the marking on the map turns into dotted lines, which makes me think it's an unimproved trail or something. So I guess my question is, can you drive to Whittier?

That's almost certainly the tunnel.

And to address something Eves said about being "remote and cut off" and how that would prevent me from settling down in a place... that's kind of the whole point of moving to Alaska for me: to be "remote and cut off". I don't need "things to do" living in a place like Alaska. If you're as nuts about the outdoors as me, there are always things to do. And that is NOT an assumption, as I have three friends here in town who lived in Alaska (one for fourteen years), and they all think that I've got a good idea of what I'm getting into. The only people who have raised doubts have been a couple of internet trolls. Big whoop.

Whittier is cut off by design. It was originally built as a protected military installation. It's not really the same thing as living in some other random isolated Alaska town.

The tunnel is fully drivable now, though, which really reduces that effect. Used to be you were dependent on the train to get out, IIRC.

[Alaskapat528]

About Whittier

Here's some info--tunnel is 2.5 miles long. Be sure you check the schedule for in and out times. I love going to Whittier but we always go summer and fall. It's a cute town but not much to it. And no Alaska storms don't match a noreaster, at least in the Valley and Anchorage they don't. Have you made your mind up yet?

[gobrien]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

^ Thanks Ed. I'm kinda bummed out though that you get more of a real winter in northern Michigan than you do in Alaska. Snow is my favorite part of the cold weather really (well, among other things), and especially watching it fall. My favorite are huge snowstorms, and I was under the impression that Alaska got plenty of those. I mean, OK how about this. Compare a Nor'Easter to a big Alaskan storm. Which one is more impressive? This isn't a deal-breaker, but it's pretty important.

People in the lower 48 are fed this picture of Alaska from early childhood starting with cartoons. In the media picture, it is always cold and snow is blowing everywhere. Always. Did anyone watch the Event on NBC? Lots of snow whenever they were in Alaska. Honestly, Ship, you are just going to have to come here. We get plenty of a real winter and snow, but depending on the huge area of the state, the "realness" of our long and snowy winter may differ from the crud Hollywood has been passing off for so long.

[SityData]

Winter storms in the Arctic are brutal; Complete white out's.

Extreme winds and you can't see squat no place. Its fun.. the houses shake. and some of the screws in the sheet rock always are foced out by as much as 1/8 of an inch. I've seen that happen in many homes.

No you cannot compare a winter storm in the arctic to anything in the lower 48 states and other parts of Alaska

Valdez is the most snowfall anyplace in Alaska each year.

[warptman]

He's not going to the arctic though.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by warptman

He's not going to the arctic though.

He could pretend. He could go to Fairbanks and stand outside in a t-shirt and pretend he was Joe the Waterman in Barrow. Cause Joe really did that when it was 30 below zero.

And while he was doin' that he could play that Johnny Horton song in the background to set the mood.


North To Alaska ~ Johnny Horton - YouTube