THE ROAD TO VALDEZ, BACK TO TOK

Day 107 - 2015-08-05

BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN.  I appeared at Cal Worthington Ford this morning at 10:00.  Funny that my truck was ready to roll by 11:00.  I have to say this is one of the most unfriendly customer service environments I have ever encountered.  They are the only show in town and they act like it.  OK, enough grousing about that, the good news is that I got the truck back and it’s seems to be OK. (Gearhead update:  Balance, Rotate, and Alignment - only $470.00 – OUCH!!!!).

As bad as that was, at least we got to leave Anchorage and head for parts unknown to us.  We took off on the Glenn Highway toward Glenallen AK. 

We ran along the Matanuska River valley (gorgeous)

until we encountered the Matanuska Glacier at the head of the river.

This is one of the only glaciers we have seen that still fills the flat valley below the mountain ice field.  You can see how it meanders back up the valley to the icefield.

All-in-all, this was a most refreshing day.  Back to scenery and open spaces that we have been missing for a while.  Tonight’s camp is the Tolsona Campground just outside of Glenallen.  Nice place in the woods along a creek – great to be back to nature.  Tomorrow we go to Valdez and Prince William Sound.

Day 108 - 2015-08-06

We continued along the Glenn Highway this morning until we intersected AK 4, the Richardson Highway, where we turned south and headed for Valdez.  This took us along the boundary of the Wrangell-St, Elias National Park, the largest national park in North America.  The drive was so beautiful it reminded us of the drive into Skagway – over a pass, down a valley into a fjord surrounded by mountains and glaciers.  It was an incredible drive.  We took a few shots from inside the truck.  I want to remember that we sometimes just came up over a rise and were greeted by spectacular scenery.  This is the Worthington Glacier.

Just past the glacier we rounded a turn to find one of the most surreal scenes we have ever seen.

Just past that we found Bridal Veil Falls.

We camped out on Dayville Road, right on Prince William Sound, just a couple of miles before arriving in Valdez, and only a stone’s throw away from the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.  Yes, we saw both ends of it.  On the way in, we passed the salmon hatchery.  We went back to take a look and the creek leading up to the spawning area at the hatchery was FULL of salmon – no kidding, there were 10’s of thousands of fish.

I took a short video, but honestly, even it does not capture the magnitude of the fish in this run.

The entire sound is full of salmon, they are so thick that I caught two just by laying a hook in the water and bringing it back.  I can’t imagine the number of fish that are in the sound right now.

Valdez itself really does not have much to offer except the beauty of the surrounding scenery. 

It has a Small Boat Harbor.

And, a Harbor Street with a very few shops.

Fishing seems to be the mainstay tourist attraction here – and from what we saw, with good reason – but there is little tourist infrastructure.  One restaurant/pub – The Fat Mermaid – where I was able to sample the Alaskan Brewing Freeride APA (that’s correct, APA, not IPA).  Like many of Alaskan’s brews, it has a hint of spice or flavor in it.  Made for a good APA.  I’ll have another when I can.  There are not really even many tchotchke shops, even though some cruise ships dock here.  You can stay in any of the 4 BIG RV parks in town, or at one of the couple of hotels, or get an expresso from the drive through shack, but that’s about it.  Not a bad way to be.  If Whittier is like Seward on Valium, then Valdez is like Whittier on Valium. This is a very slow, laid back, not much going on except salmon fishing kind of place – an easy place to be.

We tried to do a little bear spotting this afternoon.  Our campmate told us there is one creek where three black bear sows and their cubs have been spotted eating salmon, but no luck.  The salmon were everywhere in the creek.  You could have picked them up with a glove.  I think the salmon are so easy to get, the bears just don’t have to work hard enough at it to stay visible for very long.  Maybe we’ll try again tomorrow.

For now, it’s time to kick back with a fire and enjoy the views of Prince William Sound from the campsite.  164 (12,630).

Day 109 - 2015-08-07

We took it pretty easy today – slept in a little, walked around the campground and watched people catching salmon – what a great place for kids – giggles and screams galore.  We enjoyed the view over breakfast, then hooked up for the short drive into town.  Fuel, dump, and water all in one friendly Tesoro location and we were on the road – back up the Richardson Highway (AK 4) toward Glenallen.

We stopped only about 25 miles from town at the Blueberry Lake State Recreation Area.  41 (12,671).  In that distance, we climbed from sea level to about 1,700 feet.  We drove through the campground, scoped out the little mountain lake, and decided to stay a night.  Our campsite is on a ridge with a view of a deep valley backstopped by high, sawtoothed peaks covered with ice fields and glaciers.

 

We dropped the boats and took a paddle around the lake. 

As pretty as they are, and as glad we are to have visited them, we just love getting out of the hustle and bustle of the towns and back into the country.

Day 110 - 2015-08-08

We put on some miles today. 231 (12,902).  We left Blueberry Lake intending to stop at the Worthington Glacier for a quick look.  This deserved anything but a quick look.

Access to the glacier was unfettered, so close ups as well as distant shots were possible.

Bettie wimped out on the hike, but I took off and found myself at the bottom of the glacier, able to reach out and touch it.  It is so weird that NONE of the trail guides, National Parks literature, camping books, etc. say anything about being able to approach the glacier – it’s like a big surprise reserved only for those who find it.  Way cool!

I am intrigued by the blue glacial ice, formed by thousands of years of pressure that removes all the air molecules and causes the resulting hard ice to absorb all the colors except blue.  I hope it shows its brilliance in the picture.

Leaving Worthington Glacier we continued up the Richardson Highway (AK 4) past Glenallen and took the Tok Cutoff Highway (AK 1).  We went through Tok going toward Fairbanks.  This time we will turn back toward Whitehorse, re-cover some ground we have already driven , then take off for Stewart and Hyder on the Cassiar highway just this side of Watson Lake– reported by many we have talked to as the most beautiful highway in Alaska.