Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sunday, Septeember 7, 2008 Valdez, Alaska
Well, darn...another lesson in nothing is free! I've been frustrating for better than two weeks because the 65+ photos I've uploaded from Picasa2 to the blog haven't been open-able. It's been absolutely maddening! But, this morning we think we have the answer...I've run out of "free" space. It would have been nice if a pop-up scree had issued a warning and offered an upgrade of more space for $X but they didn't. So, I'll be going back to old posts (beginning with "Harley picking blueberries") and deleting the photos hoping that frees up some space since I forgot to record my gmail username so am unable to buy more space. But, enough of that.
As you can see from the title, we're now in Valdez at the Sea Otter RV Park (and the office is closed so we're currently hooked up for "free" and facing right on to Prince William Sound). But we've seen a lot since Seward (no, it never stopped raining so we didn't see Exit Glacier.
From Seward, we drove about 100 miles to Williwaw campground (USFS) on the Portage Glacier Road, a large but very privately sited CG just 11 miles from Whittier. There'd been so much rain that the rivers and creeks were to flood stage but apparently that's not unusual as much of the trails were built on boardwalks and only a few of the sites had standing water.
Thursday it was still very overcast and occasionally raining but we decided to go to Whittier and a cruise anyhow. The 11-mile drive included a 2.5 mile, one-lane tunnel built by the U.S. Army during WWII since Whittier is a very deep,ice-free port. Not only vehicles but also the Alaska Railroad use the tunnel so it's on a strict schedule to accommodate all uses. It was no longer raining when we reached Whittier, just heavy overcast. We bought cruise tickets from Major Marine and walked around "town" while waiting for departure...Whittier consists of a wharf with a few tourist shops and a 5-story hotel like building that houses the 150+/- residents along with their grocery, etc. store and various entertainment choices.
We were so glad we'd decided to take the cruise. It never really rained and the captain and USFS Ranger were excellent in showing and explaining all that we saw: two glaciers up close, many others from a distance, rafts (= groups) of sea otters, a harbor seal lounging on a small iceberg, many eagles two black- legged kittiwake (a type of gull) rookeries and literally hundreds of waterfalls. Even if there'd been bright sunshine, it wouldn't have really made much difference.
Friday morning we had a wonderful 3 mile walk to Portage Lake and back...I remember the first time I saw Portage Lake about 20 years ago when the Lake was more like an iceberg filled pond at the base of Portage Glacier. So many of Alaska's glaciers are in retreat. The rest of the day we drove toward Valdez, most of it on the Glenn Highway. It's amazing, we keep saying we've already seen "the most beautiful" part of the state and then we see another that's even prettier. The Glenn goes through the Chugach Mountains with the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains to the east. The western part is along the broad, braided Matsanuka River until it reaches the Matasunaka Glacier. After that the land plateaus and is filled with innumerable lakes surrounded by deciduous trees in their fall (mostly yellow) glory and scattered dark spruce. Absolutely gorgeous!
We spent Friday night at a high pullout above the highway that was also used by some of the many moose hunters. We chose it because of the incredible, unobstructed view of snow-covered peaks. Another treat was a cup full of blueberries Harley picked for dessert.
Saturday we finished the drive to Valdez, this time on the Richardson Highway... another road that elicited one "ah" and "oh" after another, although the highway itself had lots of frost heaves and repairs. But now we're at Valdez and will spend the rest of the afternoon walking around town. Tomorrow we'll be off for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
As you can see from the title, we're now in Valdez at the Sea Otter RV Park (and the office is closed so we're currently hooked up for "free" and facing right on to Prince William Sound). But we've seen a lot since Seward (no, it never stopped raining so we didn't see Exit Glacier.
From Seward, we drove about 100 miles to Williwaw campground (USFS) on the Portage Glacier Road, a large but very privately sited CG just 11 miles from Whittier. There'd been so much rain that the rivers and creeks were to flood stage but apparently that's not unusual as much of the trails were built on boardwalks and only a few of the sites had standing water.
Thursday it was still very overcast and occasionally raining but we decided to go to Whittier and a cruise anyhow. The 11-mile drive included a 2.5 mile, one-lane tunnel built by the U.S. Army during WWII since Whittier is a very deep,ice-free port. Not only vehicles but also the Alaska Railroad use the tunnel so it's on a strict schedule to accommodate all uses. It was no longer raining when we reached Whittier, just heavy overcast. We bought cruise tickets from Major Marine and walked around "town" while waiting for departure...Whittier consists of a wharf with a few tourist shops and a 5-story hotel like building that houses the 150+/- residents along with their grocery, etc. store and various entertainment choices.
We were so glad we'd decided to take the cruise. It never really rained and the captain and USFS Ranger were excellent in showing and explaining all that we saw: two glaciers up close, many others from a distance, rafts (= groups) of sea otters, a harbor seal lounging on a small iceberg, many eagles two black- legged kittiwake (a type of gull) rookeries and literally hundreds of waterfalls. Even if there'd been bright sunshine, it wouldn't have really made much difference.
Friday morning we had a wonderful 3 mile walk to Portage Lake and back...I remember the first time I saw Portage Lake about 20 years ago when the Lake was more like an iceberg filled pond at the base of Portage Glacier. So many of Alaska's glaciers are in retreat. The rest of the day we drove toward Valdez, most of it on the Glenn Highway. It's amazing, we keep saying we've already seen "the most beautiful" part of the state and then we see another that's even prettier. The Glenn goes through the Chugach Mountains with the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains to the east. The western part is along the broad, braided Matsanuka River until it reaches the Matasunaka Glacier. After that the land plateaus and is filled with innumerable lakes surrounded by deciduous trees in their fall (mostly yellow) glory and scattered dark spruce. Absolutely gorgeous!
We spent Friday night at a high pullout above the highway that was also used by some of the many moose hunters. We chose it because of the incredible, unobstructed view of snow-covered peaks. Another treat was a cup full of blueberries Harley picked for dessert.
Saturday we finished the drive to Valdez, this time on the Richardson Highway... another road that elicited one "ah" and "oh" after another, although the highway itself had lots of frost heaves and repairs. But now we're at Valdez and will spend the rest of the afternoon walking around town. Tomorrow we'll be off for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 Seward, Alaska
For the first time we've had more than two days of rain...but it's still beautiful. We're currently camped in a City of Seward lot facing directly on Resurrection Bay surrounded by mountains, glaciers and the cutest sea otters swimming on their backs...well, we're not exactly "surrounded" by sea otters but have seen one within about 20' of YOW! Hopefully the weather will lift before we leave for Whittier and we'll be able to hike to Exit Glacier.
The trip from Denali to here has been generally peaceful (with one exception which I'll describe later), beautiful and most enjoyable. We've camped at Byers Lake in Denali State Park, 3 nights at Eklutna Lake (an Alaska State Recreation Area about 25miles north of Anchorage), a night in a gas station parking lot (same story as above) and now 2 nights, or maybe more, here in Seward.
The most enjoyable thing we've done was visiting with our friends, Phil & Sandy Eherenman; Sandy is EO of the Alaska Association and Phil manages the Petroleum Club. Phil and Harley had gotten to know each other while at the NAR meetings in Las Vegas in November so this was a great opportunity to really expand the friendship. Friday they had us over for grilled salmon (yummy!) but most of all we just enjoyed talking and seeing their gorgeous landscaping (Sandy is a Master Gardner and it really shows). Saturday they took us for a drive over Hatcher Pass (just north of Wasilla and you all now know where that is!!) which was really gorgeous, then to the State Fair in Palmer then back to YOW for a campfire. What fun!!
After Anchorage we'd thought about going to Katmai National Park to see the bears fish for salmon...put decided against it for very practical reasons. The cost per person ranged from $589 to $3,100 and that was just to fly over and come back the same day!
Now for the "exception" to our perfect trip...Sunday as we were driving around the Turnagain Arm, we stopped for fuel...and managed to put in 17+ gallons of unleaded gas instead of diesel! That required taking out the gas tank, emptying it and reinstalling the gas tank. Harley found a small repair shop just 1/4 mile away that could do it on Monday but I called AAA and arranged for them to pick up Babe and do the work Sunday night (amazing given the holiday weekend). However, when we got to the shop in Anchorage that would do the work we both had serious questions...a real mess, very grubby and no lift. But, long story short, after about 4 hours and $270 (plus replacing all the fuel) the job was done and we returned in the rain to YOW,
From here we're planning to drive to Whittier, take a day cruise around Prince William Sound, hike and then return to Tok and on to the Wrangall-St. Elias Mountains.
The trip from Denali to here has been generally peaceful (with one exception which I'll describe later), beautiful and most enjoyable. We've camped at Byers Lake in Denali State Park, 3 nights at Eklutna Lake (an Alaska State Recreation Area about 25miles north of Anchorage), a night in a gas station parking lot (same story as above) and now 2 nights, or maybe more, here in Seward.
The most enjoyable thing we've done was visiting with our friends, Phil & Sandy Eherenman; Sandy is EO of the Alaska Association and Phil manages the Petroleum Club. Phil and Harley had gotten to know each other while at the NAR meetings in Las Vegas in November so this was a great opportunity to really expand the friendship. Friday they had us over for grilled salmon (yummy!) but most of all we just enjoyed talking and seeing their gorgeous landscaping (Sandy is a Master Gardner and it really shows). Saturday they took us for a drive over Hatcher Pass (just north of Wasilla and you all now know where that is!!) which was really gorgeous, then to the State Fair in Palmer then back to YOW for a campfire. What fun!!
After Anchorage we'd thought about going to Katmai National Park to see the bears fish for salmon...put decided against it for very practical reasons. The cost per person ranged from $589 to $3,100 and that was just to fly over and come back the same day!
Now for the "exception" to our perfect trip...Sunday as we were driving around the Turnagain Arm, we stopped for fuel...and managed to put in 17+ gallons of unleaded gas instead of diesel! That required taking out the gas tank, emptying it and reinstalling the gas tank. Harley found a small repair shop just 1/4 mile away that could do it on Monday but I called AAA and arranged for them to pick up Babe and do the work Sunday night (amazing given the holiday weekend). However, when we got to the shop in Anchorage that would do the work we both had serious questions...a real mess, very grubby and no lift. But, long story short, after about 4 hours and $270 (plus replacing all the fuel) the job was done and we returned in the rain to YOW,
From here we're planning to drive to Whittier, take a day cruise around Prince William Sound, hike and then return to Tok and on to the Wrangall-St. Elias Mountains.
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