Alaska Trip - Valdez

 Our time spent in Anchorage consisted of camping on two different occasions at Eagle River Campground which is part of Chugach State Park. The town of Eagle River is a suburb northeast of Anchorage and it’s a handy place to stop going and coming from the Kenai Peninsula. Our second night there was after we’d toured Whittier and Portage Glacier. My sighting of Mama Moose and her baby in the campground is why I’m including a mention of it.

Lake Louise

The next morning, we visited the Ulu Factory in downtown Anchorage. The Ulu is a curved knife originally designed and made from stone by the Athabaskan natives. Now, of course, the blade is made of steel and it is mass produced. From the factory, we walked to Ship Creek and watched several fishermen casting their lines. We drove the downtown harbor residential area full of interesting upscale modern homes and condos. And then we made our way to 5^th Avenue which is Highway #1 and away we went northeast out of town toward Palmer and the Glenn Highway.

It’s 187 miles on the Glenn Highway to Glenallen where we wanted to head south to Valdez. It’s a beautiful drive with the Chugach Mountains to the south and the Talkeetna Mountains off to the north. And where there wasn’t construction going on, the road was good pavement. Not so the 19- mile road to Lake Louise north of the Glenn Highway, 29 miles shy of Glenallen, where we decided to turn off and camp for the night. It was 19 miles of frost-heaved, patched, roller coaster road lined with stunted black and white spruce trees. Lake Louise is a beautiful setting, however, and we enjoyed our night there, despite the mosquitoes.

Valdez

Located on a fjord where the 5,000-foot-tall Chugach Mountains rise from Prince William Sound, the town of Valdez (population: 4011) sits at the base of Keystone Canyon, a 3-mile long gorge through nearly perpendicular slate walls sporting the Horsetail Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

We drove into town on a Sunday and had a leisurely look around since most of the shops on the boardwalk near the marina were closed and there was little traffic. In fact, we just parked by the marina and ate our lunch in the Siesta while watching people walking to and from the fish processing facility not far away, and as we gazed at the variety of boats moored in the marina. Across the street was an incredible stand of blooming lupines!

Dayville Rd camping

View on Dayville Rd

We camped that night on Dayville Rd. which is across the Sound from the town of Valdez. This public road has wide paved turnouts overlooking the Sound for RV parking and fishing from the bank a few steps away. The Michigan couple parked next to us spend several days every summer there fishing and canning the fish they catch before moving on to other fishing areas in southern Alaska. A short distance up the road is the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery. Sea lions hang out there to catch and devour pink salmon flopping about at the fish weir. Bears are prevalent in the area, too, so we read. And Monday morning a small one rambled out of the shrubs by the Siesta just after Michael left to walk down to the bathroom. The bear was out on the road by the time another camper alerted Michael to it.

Part of the fascinating beauty of the Valdez area is the dramatic climate changes, from sea level fjord surrounded by mountains and glaciers up through Keystone Canyon, continuing 25 miles north of Valdez to Thompson Pass at 2,805 feet. That’s high enough at this northern latitude to be above tree line and home to several different blooming sedums and other tundra plants. And 4 miles beyond the pass is Worthington Glacier State Recreation Site, a National Natural Landmark.

Bridal Veil Falls

Keystone Canyon

Tundra at Thompson Pass

Tundra

Tundra

Worthington Glacier