When you can only get to Valdez Glacier by kayak, it's not a problem and it doesn't cost us a thing. Not to mention that you can go at whatever pace (and place) that you want.
When we arrived at Glacier View Park a kayak tour group was already there. We were almost halfway to the glacier before they were even in the water...
Valdez Glacier sits on the edge of a glacial lake in a glacial morraine. While it is a nice enough glacier the really impressive part of the park is the icebergs floating all over the lake. Paddling around large and small pieces of floating blue ice was an unparalleled experience.
The other unique thing about it was the silence. Once you turned the corner on the lake, you couldn't even hear the construction noise. There was only the sound of your paddles splashing in the milky water...
Considering we had just paddled all over a glacial lake covered in icebergs. we weren't starving. So instead of eating lunch, we decided to hit the road to Chitina for our trek to McCarthy. But not before stopping to take a picture of the free community shooting range. Alaska is so cool!
The weather was so much better than when we arrived that we re-stopped at all the same places and got better pictures...
And we got to wander through the railroad tunnel in Keystone Canyon. This tunnel was hand-carved but never completed due to a gun battle. That just goes to show what greed can do. Pathetic!
When we walked back to the van, we noticed a guy staring at our van. The tire was FLAT!
So it was back the 15 miles to Valdez Visitor's Center to find out where to get the tire fixed. With all the construction, it took a bit longer than we would have liked. But on the way we drove by Randy's Auto Service. I commented that it was probably the only place in town....
Turns out I was right. We called Randy and he said he'd be waiting for us in 15 minutes. So we went back to Randy's and he had us all fixed up and out the door in no time! All that delay because of a tiny sharp rock!
Bridal Veil Falls was just so darn pretty that we just set up in the turnout and had lunch... and now we were STARVING!
The mountains on the pass were spectacular now that we could actually see them!
Thompson Pass gets record setting amounts of snow in the winter! Once they got 974.5" in one season! One snowy February they got 298". And in only one day in December they got 62"! Wow! You could tell snow was an issue because those poles on the side of the road are for the snow plows...
Although we'd seen it up close and personal, we made a detour to Worthington for a few pics in the sun...
The Edgerton Highway goes out to Chitina (CHIT-na) on the Copper River. This is a super popular spot for Alaska residents who can dip net fish for the spawning salmon. The Ahtna natives can also use fish wheels. The river is so fast-moving and powerful that it is actually dangerous and fishermen have been swept away in the water. Watching the huge fishing boats work so hard to just crawl up the river a short distance, you appreciate how truly dangerous it is. But they come out by the hundreds to take the risk for a haul of big Copper River salmon!
The eagles like to fish there, too...
Finding a free campsite on a Friday night was a total God thing!
By the next day, every single empty space you see was filled with tents and trailers and generators and families and boats and kids and dogs and quads. It was quite a different atmosphere than the RV Parks... :)
We enjoyed the evening eating dinner and playing games while watching "the show"...
1 comment:
I really never thought about it, but with all the glaciers, there are also many water falls. loved the pics of the different falls and streams coming down the mountain side. Thanks again for sharing your journey
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