Clearing Roads

The world comes crashing down in the Springtime. We literally see more of ourselves and of the world every day because of the hours of daylight that inch and inch longer and longer. In Alaska, we've the lost the comfort of darkness. The night doesn't come until well past midnight now, and the vast amount of remaining snow only reflects even more pure white back into our eyes. It all leads to a different kind of cabin fever.

Near Portage Lake, one mountain has literally begun to fall down, turning the fever up a notch. For the past month, the road to Whittier has been closed due to a massive rockslide that has only continued to build with efforts to clear it. At first sight, the Department of Transportation needed to hire out contractors because the rocks in the road were bigger than their equipment. After several drilling measures, helicopter scouting missions, and a large blasting, D.O.T. has finally given official notice that they will open the road on Friday the 8th.

The road will have one lane available from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. each morning and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the evening. Some call it progress, some call it not enough, and surely there is someone in Whittier who is working on ordering a tank from the Lower 48. Sometimes you have to blast your way to freedom, whether the walls are in your mind or standing right in front of you.



For updated information on the rockslide, click here.