The stop at Kennicott Mine was interesting and we were glad we drove the 60 miles of bad road in, but unfortunately that meant we had to drive the 60 miles of bad road back out. After we changed the flat tire on Jon’s truck. But we figured only two flats for 16 tires isn’t bad. And the drive down to Valdez was lovely once we got back to the highway.
We arrived a little late for the 4th of July festivities but still wandered into town to see the last of the fun and listen to some local music.
Valdez was pretty socked in the entire time we were there but it didn’t stop us from touring around in the truck and visiting all the sights. There are plenty of waterfalls and scenic vistas in town and up toward the top of the pass north of town.
We drove around the bay to the Alyeska Pipeline terminal where I had worked so many decades ago, but the entrance was secured tight and no visitors welcome.
During that trip to Valdez in the early 90’s I had taken one boat ride into Prince William Sound, and had always wanted to see more. So I booked a sightseeing tour for us on a local boat to get out on the water. The LuluBell is run by a local who has been taking tourists into these waters for decades, and he had a lot to say about what we were seeing along the way.
Honestly there was nothing new for us that we hadn’t already seen from the deck of our own boat, even including the adorable sea otters. There were plenty of bergy bits and he got very up close to the Columbia Glacier and even found a couple of whales.
After four days of socked in clouds, cold and drizzly rain, it was nice to get back north again and into some sunnier weather. We were bundled up and cold in Valdez while everyone we knew was sweating it out at home in a heat wave. Our next destination was a small private campground on a winding creek where we all had waterfront property for a couple of days.
There was a “hike” to a mud volcano about a mile into the woods and we gave that a try, for about 3/4 of a mile until the brush was too thick and the trail got lost. The mosquitoes were about as thick as I’d ever seen them, and we still don’t know exactly what a mud volcano looks like.
Jon packed up his trailer to leave in Anchorage for 3.5 weeks while he and Peter flew home. Rob and I came to Gail’s house for some excellent moochdocking time. This is a panorama off her deck. It’s also where we saw a bear run through the second night while we were eating dinner (inside thankfully). Apparently there is a bear den at the bottom of the not very high bluff. I’m not sure how I’d feel about life that close to bears, even with this spectacular view.
We spent a fun day touring around Anchorage and seeing the sights and running a few errands. Today we leave and go back north into the MatSu valley for a hike tomorrow on a glacier. Then we’ll start working our way south towards the Kenai Peninsula. We’re now a month in and having no regrets about making this trip so long. There is so much to see and we’re having a great time so far, mosquitoes, bears and all.
Pix from this leg are Here