Valdez

July 23, 2012  Valdez

What an amazing day!

 First of all, it is my daughter Stephanie's birthday--the anniversary of one of the happiest days of my life!  Happy Birthday with love from Alaska!

We left our lovely roadside campground in time to be at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitor Center when it opened.  After a quick tour around the center and watching a very good film called "Crown of the Continent", we headed for Valdez in cold rain and driving through clouds.

Native fish wheel at the Visitor's Center

It was such a beautiful drive!  I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to see it on a clear day!  We stopped to photograph the gorgeous Bridal Veil Falls and the several smaller falls beside it, then were stunned by the even more beautiful Horse Tail Falls around the next curve!  We will return to take pictures of those falls tomorrow.

Bridal Veil Falls

Valdez is a small town located on Prince William Sound surrounded by majestic mountains, glaciers, marshes, and abundant wildlife.  More about that later.  The mountains are shrouded in clouds and fog today, but we can see bits of them here and there.  This is also the southern terminal of the Alyeska Pipeline.  Our campground is situated downtown, overlooking a marsh and an inlet off of the Sound.  It has full hookups and is very convenient to everything.

The marsh from our campsite (there are mountains in those clouds)

Another view from the campsite

We took a drive around town and the pretty harbor and stopped at the Peter Pan Seafood Store to buy some fish.  The guys have decided not to take a charter from here because the weather is bad and the halibut being caught is not very big.

In the early evening we drove out to the Solomon Gulch Hatchery to see the salmon returning to spawn.  What an amazing sight it was!   Thousands of salmon were churning in the water trying to get back into the hatchery where they were born.

The ladder the salmon have to swim up

Thousands of salmon in the water

A big salmon

A salmon swimming up the ladder

Also in the water were many sea lions--some of them HUGE.  The big ones were just sitting there as if they had eaten too much, and the little ones were having their turn at the salmon. Then there were the seagulls and eagles waiting for any leftovers.  It was fascinating to watch.

We ran into Jim and Lana again at the hatchery, and had a nice chat with them.The terminal for the pipeline is just beyond the hatchery, but it is securely fenced and guarded so we were not able to get close enough to see anything of interest there.

As we started to leave, we saw people gathered on the other side of the hatchery and stopped to see what they were looking at.  It was a mama grizzly and FOUR cubs fishing for salmon on the rocks!  What an awesome sight it was!  We stood there in the rain for a long time watching them.  Mama kept an eye on the people as she and the cubs had their fill of fish.  The cubs were getting pretty good at catching them and once mama even took a fish from one of the cubs and ate it herself.

Further out in the water, several sea otters reclined on their backs while also dining on salmon.  This was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.  I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to see the things we have seen on this trip.

After a dinner of halibut and chips at the Old Town Diner,  we returned home to admire the 10,000 pictures (just kidding) that we took today.

Matanuska

July 22, 2012  Matanuska

We packed up and left the Black Spruce campsite this morning in a chilly rain, but the weather improved greatly as we traveled east on the Glenn Highway.  We stopped in Chugiak for fuel because Gary had discovered that it was 18 cents cheaper there than in Anchorage.  That was quite a savings!

The scenery along the Glenn Highway was beautiful, especially the closer we got to the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains. 

We stopped to look for Dall sheep on Sheep Mountain, but couldn’t find a single one.  

Sheep Mountain along the Glenn Highway

There was an overturned truck and U-Haul trailer along the side of the road, but it appeared that no one was badly injured so we pushed on.  I did call 911, but they had already been notified.  

We stopped for the stunning views of the Matanuska Glacier which is 27 miles long!  

The Matanuska Glacier

There was a nice 1 mile hike up to a couple of overlooks so we took the dogs and headed out.  It was a fun hike and great sightseeing, but it was VERY buggy!   A pleasant surprise was running into Jim and Lana, a couple we have crossed paths with at several points on this trip.  They are from Tampa.  It was fun catching up on their adventures and sharing ours.  After we finished our hike we had lunch then headed down the road again.  

At the Matanuska overlook

On the trail.

Happy hikers!

We are camped tonight in a turnout about 15 miles from Glennallen.  There is nothing here but woods and animal trails.  I walked a short distance into the woods and found some animal bones.  That made me decide to return to the RV and forgo any more exploring.  

With no hookups, no internet, and no TV, we turned in early and will head for Valdez tomorrow.   

Aviation in Anchorage

July 20 and 21  Aviation in Anchorage

Friday was what we are calling a "down day."  We have been on the go so long, that we needed a day to catch up on chores and rest, and this was the day.

Saturday dawned with rain and temperatures in the upper 50's.  We went to breakfast at the Wilderness Inn, then Barb and I went the the hair salon on base to get our hair cut.  After lunch the guys went into town to the Alaska Aviation Museum and enjoyed seeing the planes and an interesting movie about bush pilots in Alaska.  This museum is located on the shores of the busiest seaplane landing place in the world.

Tomorrow we leave Anchorage for the two day trip to Valdez.

Rust Airlines

Super Cub

Steve in the kiddie trainer

C45

Grumann Goose

Spirit houses and waterfalls

July 19, 2012  Spirit Houses and Waterfalls

 Another beautiful day here in Anchorage--sunshine and a blistering 74 today!   Love it!

The "new" St. Nicholas Church

We started the day with breakfast on the base, then set out on the 26 mile drive to Eklutna.  This charming little village is a blending of the Athabascan and Russian cultures.  The best example of this is at the little Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas.  The cemetery there displays many "spirit houses" that incorporate the old ways of the natives into the Russian Orthodox religion.   The houses are very creative and symbolic of the lives of the deceased and represent their family histories as well.

The old St. Nicholas Church

Interior of the "old" Church

Spirit houses

Spirit houses and Russian Orthodox Cross

Interesting grave marker

Natives cover new graves with a blanket.

A modern spirit house

After leaving the village of Eklutna, we visited Mirror Lake, then stopped for a 2 mile hike up to Thunder Bird Falls.  It was a beautiful hike, and half-way up at an overlook of the Eklutna Canyon we finally saw a salmon that seemed to be swimming "in place" in the water below us.     Gary thinks it was stuck in shallow water, but I think it was spawning.  The falls were very pretty, but the hike was the most fun.

Thunder Bird Falls. 

Hiking and talking on the phone. 

The afternoon was spent doing laundry, shopping on base, and dining at the Wilderness Inn.  We have decided to stay here a couple of days longer than we had planned.  It is a good campground, cheap and convenient, so we plan to do a bit more sightseeing and catching up on chores  before heading to Valdez.