Glenn Highway

East of Palmer, Alaska – August 7, 2011

This morning we started out backtracking towards Valdez about 5 miles.  We wanted to go to the Visitors Center at Wrangle - St. Elias National Park (it was closed when we went by last night). This is the largest unit in the National Park system.  While there we toured the museum and took a hike through the Boreal forest.  The location of the Visitor Center is also where a portion of the old Valdez – Eagle trail still exists.  This is the trail that was once used to maintain the telegraph system that provided communication with Washington, D.C. without relying on a foreign country to relay messages.

Here also was an example of a fish wheel.  It is entirely powered by the flow of water in the river or creek to rotate the baskets that capture fish.

In Glennallen we stopped and had lunch at “The Freeze” where we saw these black flowers.

Along the way we had great views of the Chugach Mountain range.

In Sutton we stopped at the Alpine Historical Park.  It’s home to the remains of a coal washing station.  The Navy built this facility to provide coal for US Navy ships and it was completed just about the time the Navy switched over to oil to fire its ship boilers.  I think they call this “just in time obsolescence”.  The last picture is of an old post office.  Supposedly during the Christmas season the postmaster had to store packages in his car because the post office wasn’t large enough.

There are so many glaciers in Alaska.  This is the Mantanuska Glacier that runs right along the Glenn Highway for several miles.

Tonight we found this perfectly good abandoned campground.  Well it turns out it’s not abandoned, it is a state campground that is “passively managed”.  What that means is the state no longer spends any money to maintain it with the exception of a dumpster and a port-o-let.  That was fine with us, as it suited our needs just fine.

BG Miles Today	147	BG Total Miles	6145
Eat Out total $	619.98	BG Total Fuel $	3249.20
Entertainment total $	452.52	Total Camping $	935.91
E Miles Today	0	E Total Miles	1969.5
E Total Fuel $	421.22	Day # of Trip	68

Waterfalls and a Glacier

Glennallen, Alaska – August 6, 2011

As Big Guy cruised up the mountains to Thompson Pass we traveled through Keystone Canyon.  When we passed through here before, we were in a rush to get to Valdez and didn’t take the time to enjoy the scenery.  Keystone Canyon is known for its many waterfalls. 

 

We had also stopped at Worthington State Park before, but were in too much of a hurry to enjoy it.  This time we took the hike to the foot of the glacier.  It’s one of the few places in Alaska where one can easily hike to touch a glacier.

Once we made it over Thompson Pass the weather lifted and we could see this.

Then we took a detour off the main road to visit Copper Center.  The main highway used to go through here until the Alaska Highway Commission decided to straighten the road several years ago.  Frank really liked this camper. Now that you could take anywhere!

BG Miles Today	118	BG Total Miles	5998
Eat Out total $	608.88	BG Total Fuel $	3249.20
Entertainment total $	452.52	Total Camping $	935.91
E Miles Today	0	E Total Miles	1969.5
E Total Fuel $	421.22	Day # of Trip	67

Enjoying Valdez

Valdez, Alaska – Monday thru Friday, August 1 thru 5, 2011

It has been nice to stay in on place for a week. We had our work days, goof-off days, and tourist days. We were lucky we took our glacier cruise on Sunday because Monday-Wednesday the boat didn’t even go out. The weather got nastier with rain, winds, rough seas, and gale warnings outside Prince William Sound. The Alaska Marine Ferry even stopped coming for a few days. We made the best of it and enjoyed our time here. We even saw a movie (Cowboys & Aliens) at the convention center.

On the way to Valdez, several days ago, we met another couple in a turnout who had just left Valdez.  They had been exploring Alaska for several weeks and made the comment that of all the places they visited in Alaska, Valdez was their favorite.  After having spent some time here now, we have to agree with them.  Of course, we have a lot of Alaska left to explore, but so far it’s tops.

You wake up in the morning and you’re surrounded by mountains.  From our location we can see 3 glaciers, and one waterfall.  We have eagles and bears in our front yard.  We can turn the opposite direction and within a five minute walk, we’re in downtown or the harbor.  One couple in a fifth wheel next door, told us they had been coming to Alaska for 5 years and this trip they decided to spend the whole summer in Valdez.

An interesting thing about the salmon.  We had always heard that when they are in the spawning phase, they don’t feed.  After talking to several fisherman, we find out that most often they snag the salmon instead the salmon biting the hook.  That’s not hard to understand, the red sockeye salmon are so thick you just drag a hook along the bottom and your bound to snag at least one.  Now further offshore, where the silver salmon were and hadn’t started to swim upstream yet, you still caught them with bait.

Gold Rush Days were happening during our visit.  There were awards for best decorated business, best costumes, best cardboard boat and so on.

And here’s what happens if you don’t paddle your cardboard boat fast enough.  Bear in mind the only construction materials allowed are cardboard and duct tape (any color).  The races were a riot.

After the races we wandered over to take a look at the Ferry Docks and found this instead. A Polynesian Christian band. It was cold and windy, but the dancers acted as though they didn’t care.  Personally, we were freezing and were even wearing gloves and earmuffs.

We took several hikes and some of them had views of the town.  Here is the small boat harbor and our campground. We decided it looks like there are more boats than RV’s and more RV’s than houses.

And a neat wood carving.

After a hard day of having fun, Mocha and Frank relaxed.

 

No, you’re not getting any of the fresh salmon.

Valdez has several excellent museums detailing the history of the town through it’s beginnings, the earthquake of 1964 and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.  While the Port of Valdez didn’t see any of the spilled oil, it was the center of the cleanup efforts.  The earthquake resulted in the town being condemned and moved to a new location.  And the Alaskans like to poke fun at themselves too.

Sadly, after good restaurants, interesting shops, glacier peeking, great views, walks in the rain, soaking up the culture, and wildlife viewing it was was time to go.

BG Miles Today	0	BG Total Miles	5880
Eat Out total $	601.88	BG Total Fuel $	3099.16
Entertainment total $	452.52	Total Camping $	935.91
E Miles Today	89.5	E Total Miles	1969.5
E Total Fuel $	387.19	Day # of Trip	62 - 66