Sunday, 28 August 2011 Glacier View - Valdez

Awoke this morning to very fresh temperatures and beautiful views. The RV park is situated on a ridge above the valley with the enormous Matanuska Glacier in it, so the temperatures reflected this fact. Being the brave souls that we are we drove to the showers, which were the other end of the park from our camp site.

We then had a breakfast while trying to spot the sheep on the mountain across the road from us. Now ready to leave we drove back along the Glenn Hwy toward Anchorage looking for that photo spot we had spied on our way in the night before. After finding some of the spots we decided to head onto Valdez as it was still a long drive to be undertaken.

The rest of the morning provided amazing scenery and views which caused us to stop more than once for the obligatory photo. On the way we passed Sheep Mountain Lodge which looked like an excellent place to stay for a few days while hiking the hills. The rest of the morning was spent driving toward the Wrangell-Elias ranges and seeing the awesome view that I am sure with the right amount of time and patience you could take some great photos.

Our high speed travel precluded all but the briefest stops so the views were via the windows of the car. Shoeleh was continually inspired by the majesty of the surroundings and I was amazed at the lack of economic exploitation of such significant resources.

The arrival in Glennallen provided a financing and fuel stop. The town itself is in need of a serious makeover as many of the buildings were in disrepair and the general look was not too inviting.

We now turned south and started on the Richardson Highway to Valdez. Our lunch stop today was a pullout with amazing views of the Wrangall mountain range. It is truly hard to imagine how many of these stops exist along the Alaskan highway system, they even had the decency in most of them to denude the foliage so that you could see the ranges unimpeded.

Shortly after this we undertook the Copper Centre loop, which was a pleasant little drive through what had once been a hub for copper extraction in the area. Now with the copper price being so high it would have been great to see the mining start again, except most of the resource is in the National Parks. We decided in the end not to have a coffee stop and continue down the highway.

The drive continued to provide amazing views of the Wrangell ranges and some excellent photo stops. Before long we were entering the ranges leading into Valdez. Now after a day of seeing mountains and glaciers at every turn and from the crest of each hill the sights of still more glaciers, led to the "not another bloody glacier" comment.

The Worthington Glacier probably did not deserve this comment but it was nearing the end of a two day drive where glaciers and their accompanying mountains were the only vistas available. We stopped off took some photos looked at whether to undertake the walks, but my flu was still not great and after a couple of minutes in the wind I was coughing again.

So we farewelled the glacier and continued through Thompson Pass the road was winding but not as difficult as people had suggested, although if I was driving one of those giant RV rigs I could see why they would find it interesting.

The pass also had some interpretive signs and waterfalls to stop and look at which we did. Interestingly the railway did not make it to Valdez as there was a shootout and the bankers decided to withdraw the funding for the railway and so it was that the trains never came - you got love private enterprise infrastructure projects!!!

Arriving into Valdez we turned off to look at the old/ex city. This was the one that was destroyed and abandoned as a result of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. Unfortunately, most of the area has returned to scrub so there was little to see along the way other than the interpretive sign.

The high point of this detour was the salmon in the creek, and on the road. It seems that the salmon are so keen to make it up the creek that rather than swim up the channel under the road they try to leap over it. I guess that none of them make it! Not too far down the road was an eagle whom I am sure was looking forward to putting these unfortunate salmon out of their misery.

Arriving into the main town of Valdez we decided upon the Eagles Rest Cabins and RV Park http://www.eaglesrestrv.com/, partly on basis of a brochure we collected on the way. We booked in for the single night to see how my cold fared, if it did not improve we were going to do the hotel again. The park had a great camping area in the middle, so we pulled in and prepared for the evening. Given our planned travels to McCarthy, we decided to do our washing so as to have enough clothes for the next part of our trip.

We looked at our options for the next few days and my health and decided against the kayaking to the glaciers. This was likely not to facilitate any improvement in this nagging cold. So in the end we opted for the boat cruise to the glacier. I was disappointed in that this was one of our big trip must dos and I was also sorry for Shoeleh who would not do it by herself.

Dinner tonight was the Salmon that Shoeleh had caught, we had this with some chips bought from the take out next to the camp ground. The meal was fantastic and the taste of fresh fish is just so good.

I have to mention here the Ravens, now they are everywhere and they are amazing birds. While we were setting up we noticed that the ravens had managed to undo the zipper on a campers tent and get in and make a mess of their camping equipment and food. It is truly amazing how these birds are able to do all of this.

Animals Spotted: Ravens, Eagle, Salmon.

Day Forty three