(July 15 – July 22 – Valdez, Alaska) Onward to Valdez

From Glacier View we made our way to Valdez, Alaska. Our route took us along the Glenn and Richardson Highways through spectacularly wild and beautiful country. All around were vistas of jagged mountain ranges or forested, boggy taiga, Patches of roadside flowers added bright splashes of color. Skies were overcast and we ran into occasional showers and heavy rain along the drive.

Travel Itinerary 2018 – Alaska Part III

In Glennallen we turned off the Glenn Highway to the Richardson Highway towards Valdez. After a short distance we made a stop in Copper Center to visit with the parents of one of Kim’s friends from work. The couple have a lovely cabin on the outskirts of town. We enjoyed a nice visit over coffee and cinnamon rolls.

The rest of our drive to Valdez went well. Our route took us past the Worthington Glacier and through Keystone Canyon. The scenery along this stretch was simply stunning with sweeping mountain vistas, views of the glacier, and dramatic waterfalls by the roadside. We looked forward to spending more time along this stretch while in Valdez.

Arriving in Valdez we checked into the Valdez KOA for a seven-night stay. The KOA was a nice campground with spectacular mountain views about 6 miles out-of-town. The campground made a great base from which to explore the area and we enjoyed our stay here.

Around Valdez

We took a few drives into Valdez for sight-seeing, errands or dining out. Scenery all around the area was stunning with glacier carved mountains and valleys rising from the Port of Valdez/Valdez Arm of Prince William Sound. We enjoyed seeing the Valdez shipping terminal and small boat harbor. We also saw the Solomon Gulch Hatchery and Alaska Pipeline terminal.

Keystone Canyon and Worthington Glacier

One day we drove back through Keystone Canyon to Worthington Glacier. We had a wonderful clear sunny day for the drive. We especially enjoyed seeing the Horestail and Bridal Veil Falls in Keystone Canyon. We also enjoyed the mountain vistas at overlooks near Blueberry Lake and views of Worthington Glacier and several smaller glaciers along the way.

Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery

We took several short drives out to the Solomon Gulch Hatchery in hopes of seeing bears feeding on the returning Pink Salmon. A weir at the hatchery prevented salmon from going further upstream since the area could not support a large salmon population. The salmon run was just getting started, but the stream was already swarming with salmon. The hatchery was still being readied for the run and would not open for another week or so.

Although we visited the hatchery several times, we did not see any bears on the river, just one passing black bear and a grizzly digging clams on a mud flat, nearby.

We did, however, see many sea lions, gulls and an occasional seal feeding on the salmon during high tide. It was fun to watch the sea lions catching the salmon, whipping them around, and then swallowing them down. Meanwhile gulls wheeled all around and squabbled over the scraps.

Farewell to Valdez

All too soon our stay in Valdez was up and it was time to leave. This was our last major stop in Alaska. From here we would head back to Tok and then into Canada. We enjoyed our stay in Valdez immensely and would love to visit again sometime in the future.

That’s all for now. Safe travels and enjoy the journey!