21 August 2017
Valdez
Glacier Campground
We took off this morning for the 84 mile trip to Valdez. The trip was thru some of the most beautiful countryside we have seen. The mountains and valleys are green and beautiful. You can tell everything is starting to get ready for fall. The fireweed blossoms are almost done, the seed tops are starting to explode and the plant leaves turn a beautiful red color. Hence the name fireweed.
The scenery was spectacular. George has been obsessed with Glaciers and we saw a few of them during our drive. The Worthington Glacier is right off of the highway but due to the road construction we were not able to visit.
Everyone we have talked to has said the drive to Valdez was beautiful and we agree. If we have said “wow look at that” once we have said it a hundred times.
Before our final descent into Valdez we went thru about a 12-15 mile section of the road that was being repaired. The efficiency of the road crews working on the roadways has been impressive.
The BFT did very well descending down the hairpin curves and the Bridal Veil waterfalls we saw at the end were beautiful.
We stayed at the Glacier Campground with electric only, that is a joint effort with MWR and the City of Valdez.
We drove around town and found the it to be a very small quaint town.
The City of Valdez was destroyed during the earthquake of 1964 so the current city is four miles west of the original site.
As all of you know, George has researched every part of our trip, and that I am grateful for, and during his research he found that the LuLu Belle boat trip is a trip not to be missed so we went and signed up for a trip. Tomorrow is supposed to be the best day for a trip but unfortunately we are scheduled for the day after and it is supposed to be raining.
The LuLu Bell is a boat like no other we had been on before. There was only room for about 30 people, but with plenty of room. It is decked out with mahogany, teak wood, and oriental carpets on on the floor. Captain Fred is the owner and has been doing this for over 30 years, and he is quite the opinionated, funny, and knowledgeable character. He really made the cruise fun as he echoed facts about what we were seeing with the same enthusiasm he did 30 years ago. It was a rainy, foggy, 50 degree day, just like most of the other days so unfortunately we did not see any whales on this trip. We saw a mess of sea lions, otters, and puffins. But the grandest was the Columbia glacier, in Prince William Sound, the second largest tidewater glacier in North America. It was huge! We did not see it calve, but the Captain maneuvered the LuLu Bell through the thickest icebergs we had seen. It was amazing to see so much ice.
We had a great time onboard this cruise. When we began this journey back in April, we never thought we would take 7 different boats seeing so many glaciers. The inside passage is awesome.
The next day we drove around and ended up at the Fish Hatchery on the other side of the bay. Seeing the salmon make their way up the fish ladder was amazing. Thousands and thousands of fish fighting their way up the steps or levels and only the strongest make their way to the hatchery. Seeing the fish sorted and the sperm and eggs harvested for future generations is incredible. George has a video on the page that explains everything.
There was a very large sea lion gorging himself on all of the salmon in the area. It was natures buffet at its finest.
