Stan: Tok, July 26, 2005
We’re back in Tok Alaska, where we were 30 days ago. We’ll leave here on Wednesday, stay the night in Destruction Bay, on the shore of Kluane Lake and then drive to Carcross in the Yukon.
Valdez and vicinity.
In Canmore Canada I talked to a man passing through from Alaska to Texas. I was curious about the roads and, of course, the scenery. It was his opinion that the drive to Valdez Alaska would be high on our list of favorites, and without a doubt, one of the more memorable. Since this seems to be the opinion of anyone I’ve asked, we’ve been looking forward to the drive.
Glennallen to Valdez is about 118 miles. The first 75 miles are ho hum scenery, trees, trees and more of the same. Then the valley narrows and we began to see mountain ridges with snow fields peeking over the tree tops. From this point to Valdez, there are jagged ridges, snow fields, glaciers, rivers, more of the scenery we like, and the most memorable part of the drive to Valdez.
Thirty or so miles from Valdez.
Worthington Glacier.
Last curve into Valdez.
Eagles Rest 9:00 P.M.after short rain shower.
Same place, same time.
Valdez is a mighty purt-ty place.
Stand in the middle of Valdez, turn in a circle, and you see that snow fields and glaciers surround the city. Mountains are quite low, by our standards. Anything more than four thousand feet is considered a mountain. And, at this latitude, snow doesn’t seem to melt below 4,000 feet, at least, in the coastal ranges. What we consider high desert, can be snow covered, or even an ice field up here. In the lower 48, a real mountain is more than 10,000 feet, and you don’t see permanent snow much under, 20,000 feet. From sea level to Worthington Glacier State Park, for instance, is a change in altitude of only 2,500 feet or so. The Richardson Highway, 30 miles from Valdez, passes within a couple of miles of the glacier. A mile or so past the State Park, you go over Thompson Pass, the second highest highway pass in Alaska, at 2,678 feet.
Valdez Spirit.
Leaving the boat harbor for a days excursion.
Wheel House.
It's a Dell dude. Navagation running on laptop.
Steller Sea Lions.
Friday we went for a cruise into Prince William Sound. Our trip took us to the edge of the Columbia Glacier, the last of Alaska’s tidewater glaciers to begin retreating. The retreat began in 1978 and by 2002, it had retreated a distance of 7 ½ miles, leaving approximately 18 miles to go before reaching bed rock on shore. Cruise boats go just a short distance into the floating ice. Our skipper said the real danger was ice coming from the underwater portion of the glacier. Big chunks of ice pop to the surface, like corks, and can seriously damage a boat.
Columbia Glacier.
Meares Glacier.
More than ice falls off a glaciers face.
The other glacier was the Meares, at the end of the Unakwik Inlet. Here, the boat moved to within one quarter mile of the glacier’s face, the skipper shut down the engines and let the boat drift. It’s very quite, a few bird calls, some people noise, but that’s all. Everyone talks in a whisper, watching the ice face, straining their ears listing for the characteristic cracking sound, like a distant rifle shot, signaling that a chunk of ice may be breaking away. When ice does break off, the sound it makes as it hits the water, is like that of a big rock clunking into a fish pond. Then, the echos start and you get the familiar rumble that’s been recorded so many times. You can tell how big the chunk was by the size of the splash and the resulting waves.
It’s kind of fun siting still and silent in a field of floating ice, waiting for this really big, blue, ice cube to do something interesting. Glacier ice is blue because the physical properties of water molecules absorb all of the colors in the spectrum except blue, which is transmitted. The tide kept moving the boat into the glacier, so the skipper had to start the engines a couple of times to maintain his preferred quarter mile distance. Not much ice was falling from the glacier, and the skipper sounded his horn in an attempt to loosen things up. It didn’t help, and after about 15 or 20 minutes, he turned the boat around and started back to Valdez. While we were floating near the glacier face, ice closed in behind the boat. It wasn’t very thick, so moving through it wasn’t a real problem, but it did add to the sense of “adventure”.
Iced in.
We were on the catamaran Valdez Spirit, built in Bellingham Washington this year. It’s a very good boat, well built, well fitted out, and a smooooooth ride. It has a top speed of 25 knots provided by two 800 hp diesels. The instrumentation is top flight. The skipper said he could, but wouldn’t, set the boat up to guide itself through the sound on auto pilot. I think it can accommodate close to 200 passengers. On Friday, I don’t know how many there were. Other than the skipper, the crew seemed to consist of one young woman and three young men. I talked to the young woman and learned that she was born in Valdez, and was attending college in San Francisco, majoring in history. I also talked to one of the guys. He was a recent high school graduate, from Valdez, preparing to major in psychology. I guess this was the entire crew. I didn’t inquire about an engineer. At any rate, they were knowledgeable, friendly, and always there to help.
Our skipper was Stan Stephens; I think the owner of the cruise company by the same name. He was knowledgeable, and tried to find as many birds and other sea creatures for us to see and photograph as he could. We saw Sea Otter, Steller Sea Lion, and Harbor Seal. On the way back, a small school of Dall’s porpoise swam in the bow wake. I was on the second deck and didn’t see them, since they never surfaced.
The skipper kept in contact with other boats, trying to find out what they were seeing. There had been Orcas spotted in the area but he couldn’t find them. Over Bligh Reef, the one Exxon Valdez piled onto, he spotted a Humpback Whale. It was feeding and would only show a small portion of its back. It did clear its blow hole several times; that’s how we knew where it was. On the south end of Bligh Island there’s a population of Horned Puffin. They’re so small; I couldn’t get a decent photograph. They’re fun to watch when taking off from the water; they flap their wings while running over the surface, kicking up a rooster tail behind them. Sea Lions also take the sun on the rocks surrounding Bligh Island.
Humpback Whale, I think.
We ate lunch on the way out – chicken breast on rice with Alfredo sauce and vegetables – and a cup of soup when we reentered the Valdez Narrows. I had clam chowder; Johnna took the minestrone.
We were pooped when we got back at 7 P.M.. It was a ten-hour cruise, very enjoyable, and informative, but not restful. As usual, these all day excursions, wear us out. We weren’t worth a plug nickel Saturday, but happy we did it.
Our five days in Valdez have been memorable. If we wanted to spend part of a summer anywhere, it could be here. It’s a small town, we can walk to anyplace in a few minutes. It’s hard to believe we’re at sea level though. Here I am, setting at the dining table, looking out the window at a glacier nestled between two snow-covered mountain peaks. It’s 9:30 A.M. and there’s still a band of low puffy clouds floating halfway up the mountain sides. One peak, is making its own weather, like Pine Valley Mountain does. This is not a bad way to spend Sunday morning.
Johnna:
July 18, 2005
Rained most of the night. Decided to drive over to see if we could view the Matanuska Glacier any way. Rained on us most of the way. Stopped at the Eureka Roadhouse for breakfast. Bought an Anchorage newspaper to find out who had won the British Open yesterday. No real surprise that it was Tiger Woods. When we got to the view point the clouds lifted enough to let us get a look at the lower end of the glacier. Due to the rain and fog, missed seeing the Nelchina and Tazlina Glaciers which should also have been viewable from the highway. Came back to the campground and worked on getting caught up on our journal entries. Fired up the little gas grill to cook dinner; fish for Stan and chicken for me. No TV or radio here, so put a Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young CD on the little boom box. Kinda nice.
July 19, 2005
Woke up to fog beclouding the campground. It turned to mist, then rain. No day to be out and about. It stopped raining about noon and the clouds lifted a little. Hope it clears up tomorrow so that we can view the scenery on our way to Valdez. Many people we have met, who have already been there, tell us that it is a beautiful drive with the highway running between the Chugach and Wrangell Mountain Ranges.
July 20, 2005
Oh! Happy Day! No rain and some sun peaking out from behind scattered clouds. It stayed that way most of the way as we drove south. Mount Drum, Mount Sanford (16,237 ft.), and Mount Wrangell (14,163 ft.) were concealed by the clouds. Maybe we will get to see them on our way back. Ran into some fog north of Mt. Billy Mitchell. It lifted as we approached this mountain named for the prophet who advocated the need to develop American Air Power prior to World War II. The mountain scenery was striking as foretold. Worthington Glacier is the main attraction for several miles before the highway ascends to Thompson Pass (2,600 ft.). The scenery from the summit is awesome.
By the time we reached the Eagle's Rest RV Park & Cabins, the sky became fairly overcast. After lunch, made arrangements to take a 10 hour boat tour of Prince William Sound and to view the Columbia and Meares Glaciers. Also made arrangements to feed and walk the dog while we are on the tour. Afternoon showers kept us indoors for the rest of the day.
July 21, 2005
Beautiful blue skies. Could see 9 hanging glaciers from were we set in the rv park. Cool! Valdez is a pretty little town located on a spit of land near the head of the Valdez Arm of the Prince William Sound. The town site was moved to its present location after the old town site was heavily damaged by the earthquake and tidal waves on Good Friday in 1964. Being a new town, it is laid out with plenty of park and green belt areas. Unlike other Alaskan towns, Valdez has sidewalks and bike paths through out. Walked the bike path which circles around the hospital and east to a small creek where chub salmon were spawning. There is a viewing platform hanging over the creek. Next to the view point is an information center maned by park rangers. We continued on the path past a marshy tidewater flat. The ponds were home to several clutches of ducklings. Fun to watch them line up in a row to paddle behind an adult through the marsh grass from pond to pond. Valdez would be a good place to hang out for a while during the summer.
Salmon spawning.
After lunch decided to drive the Edgerton Highway to Chitina, an old railroad town which serviced the copper mines in the Copper River area. When the copper mines closed down in the late 1930s, most of the buildings were moved else where. It is now a ghost town with only a few residents. The highway passes through a farming area which mostly grows hay for livestock feed. Stopped at a state recreation site and campground located below a very pretty water fall. The tall mountains in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve were still hidden behind clouds. Stopped at the summit of Thompson Pass to take pictures. The mountain sides were covered by wild blue berries. They were still a little on the tart side as they were not quite ripe yet. All the travel guides say that mid/late August is the best time for blue berries. Salmon and wild raspberries are also beginning to ripen.
Chitina.
July 22, 2005
We could not have ordered up a better day to take a boat ride on the sound. Little white puffy clouds hanging out near the mountain tops backed by blue, blue skies. The boat (Valdez Spirit) was brand new having been in service for only two months. Very clean and comfortable. It was a catamaran with a shallow draft allowing the captain to take us close into shore to get a close up look at animals and points of interest. It was about 25 ft. wide and 50 ft. long and had two decks. I guess that it could accommodated about 100 passengers. It was about two thirds full on this day.
The route took us in between small islands and then into the Columbia Bay dodging ice bergs (some larger than the boat) until we got to within a mile of the Columbia Glacier. We saw sea otters in several places along the way. The captain said that there was too much ice to get any closer. Even with this limitation, it was an awesome site. Lunch was served while we were on our way to the Unakwik Inlet. The Meares Glacier is smaller than the Columbia. The boat was able to get within a quarter mile of the face. The moving ice makes a popping and cracking noise all the time. Pieces of ice fall into the bay ever so often making great crashing noises which echo of the face of the glacier. Ice bergs from this glacier are small and melt away before they can entering the sound. We stayed about 45 minutes listening to the sounds and watching ice fall into the inlet. Hot soup was served as we left the inlet on our return trip. Went looking for Orca whales, but no luck. Went to an area where puffins were nesting. They are a funny bird to watch. On the way into the port of Valdez we did find a humpback whale, but he was feeding on the reef so did not make a dive to show off his large tail fin. Viewed numerous water falls all during the trip. Some where from glaciers and others from melting snow.
There are not many beaches in the inlet as the mountains rise strait up from the ocean making the inlet channel deep. That is one of the reasons that Valdez was chosen as the terminus for the Trans Alaska Pipe Line. The channel and port can accommodate the largest tankers made. The port for private, touring and fishing boats fronts the town site. The port for container ships is near the town site to the east. The port for the oil tankers is across the inlet and does not interfere with the community’s daily life.
June 23, 2005
Developed a sinus headache yesterday, but the boat trip kept me interested enough that I could ignored it. It was still with me today. Did the laundry and had lunch. Nursed the headache for the rest of the day.
July 24, 2005
Headache still with me, but decided to drive out the Airport Road to get as close to the Valdez Glacier as we could. The road stopped where the glacier is fronted by a lake. From where the road ends, a spit of land hides the glacier from view. Did not feel like trying to find a way around the lake.
We then drove up the road toward the pipe line terminal. Cars, trucks, and rvs were parked all along the road west of the power house. There is a fish hatchery below the power house. At the fish gate, salmon were swimming on top of each other trying to get through to spawn. There were lots of people fishing for the salmon making a run for the hatchery. There was also several commercial fishing boats out in the inlet. They were pulling them in left and right. Still not feeling well, so went back to the trailer to take a pill and lay down.
July 25, 2005
Feeling a little better today. Departed Valdez at about 7:15 AM. It was overcast and misty. As we approached the Thompson Pass summit, the clouds began to lift. We saw a young bull moose by the road side. He moved into the trees before we could get a picture. By the time we got to Willow Lake, the clouds had lifted enough for us to get a fairly good view of Mounts Drum, Sanford, and Wrangell.
Ran into a lot of road construction on the Tok cutoff. Was delayed about 15 minutes at one spot. The drive through the mountains southwest of Tok was not as scenic as the coastal mountains, but interesting none the less. There was no snow left in the high places. Temps were in the 70s by the time we reached Tok and the skies were blue. A big difference from the heavy forest fire smoke that was here a month ago.
The pickup and 5th wheel had picked up a lot of mud and dust in the construction areas. After checking in at the rv park office took them over to the car wash area to clean off all the gook before setting up at our site. This is the first time we have had to do this on this trip. We have been lucky in that the construction we had encountered up to now was not muddy.
