We took off from Tok excited to visit the Port of Valdez and to be a part of all the fishing activity. The drive to Valdez took us through the largest National Park in the United States, the Wrangle-St. Elias National Park. This park equals six Yellowstones, with peaks upon peaks and glaciers upon glaciers. What a special environment and said to be unforgiving and “indifferent” to humans with its harsh terrain. As we followed the Richardson Highway, we had views of the Alaskan pipeline. Construction on the pipeline began in 1975 and was completed in two years. The 800 mile long pipeline begins a Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean and ends at the marine terminal at Port Valdez where it is fed by gravity into tanks. At its peak, the project employed 30,000 workers and was the largest and most expensive privately funded construction project ever undertaken. It changed Alaska’s landscape and economy forever.
We crossed over Thompson Peak and stopped to see Washington Glacier up close. We also enjoyed Bridal Veil and Horsetail Falls. Amazing sites. We drove into Prince William Sound and entered the town of Valdez, tucked in the slowly swirling fog. The 1964 Good Friday earthquake (measuring an immense 9.2) destroyed the original town of Valdez so what we visit today is a new version of the town. We set up camp right on the bay at Sea Otter RV Park , a bit funky and simple but oh what a view! We watched the boats head off in the early morning fog with hopes of landing a big halibut or silver salmon.
The next morning we awoke to the sound of rain, something we haven’t encountered in months. Since we were a bit homebound, we decided to do some schooling and tie up some loose ends from our past school year. After lunch and school, Ken and Andrew took off for a “prime” fishing spot across the port. They returned with amazing stories of fish SO dense in the water that ALL you could see were fish. Guess they had a big laugh over this as you don’t often see fish coming up to greet you!!
The next afternoon we all set out to do a little gold panning. Andrew bought Ken a really cool gold pan (not the cheap version) for Father’s Day and we took off for Mineral Creek. With a name like that, we would all hoping to strike it rich, especially Poohnut. We waded in icey water and while we didn’t have any luck finding gold, we did have a lot of fun! After our bust, we took a little hike through the area and enjoyed the path filled with wildflowers. We arrived home and had a very yummy dinner – one of Ken’s specialties – French Onion soup. We sat inside our warm RV, sipping soup and watching all the boats come back from their day of fishing. A day well spent!
Now off towards Anchorage. ..
