Alaskan State Flower – The Fireweed
The Alaska adventure continues. The Alaskan State Flower is the Fireweed. The story goes once the Fireweed is completely blossom out to the top summer is over. The locals are already prepping for winter. Needless to say we will be out of here before the snow starts in October.
Route from Anchorage to Valdez
Richardson Highway the Land Route to Valdez
The Infamous Thomas Pass at 3,000 Feet
The trip to Valdez was an easy one day trip. The route out of Anchorage is the Glenn Highway. The north south road into Valdez is the Richardson Highway. It has some nice mountains to climb but it is only 3,000 feet at the highest point. The road has lots of history starting with the early days with the Gold Mining rush. Note the poles along the side of the road which get completed buried at times in the winter with the 900 plus inches of snow each year. We are told that it almost is like driving through a tunnel. That being said it was one of our most scenic drives to date. The scenery here just keeps getting better.
RV Park with Great Views but Feels Like a Parking Lot!
Found another nice RV park, well maybe not as nice as we had on Kenai. It is in a great setting but does look a lot like a gravel parking lot.
Valdez Harbor
Valdez Harbor
The Seafood Just Keeps Getting Better…
The harbor here is large. This is a fishing area both commercial and sports. The seafood here reminds me of Newfoundland’s fare. The Halibut, Salmon (three different kinds) and Shrimp just melt in your mouth! Sunday we did a church service on a tour yacht that was very nice.
Valdez Museum – One on the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill and the 1964 Good Friday Earth Quake and the Other on How the City Had to be Moved.
This Museum at the Prince William Junior College Houses a Donated Personal Collection of Native Art and Trophy Animals…Impressive!
We did our share of museums. There is a lot of history here with the Exxon Valdez oil spill 20 years ago and the Good Friday Earth Quake in 1964. The quake and the resulting tsunami devastated many of the coastal towns. The original Valdez town was located in an area that had to be abandoned as it fell 9 feet during the quake. The town folks had completed the moved and the old town was torch by the end of 1966.
Very Rare…Mother Brown Bear with Four Cubs
Mother Grizzly Keeping Watch Over Her Cubs
Mother Showing Junior How it is Done
This Guy Knew How to Do it…Did not need Moms Help
There is a daily show at the river by the fish hatchery. A mother Grizzly with four cubs (this is their second summer) comes three times a day to feed on the Salmon. On a way to a hike we caught their show along with many other folks who were there with camera in hand. The odds of a bear with four cubs is very rare and the fact that all four survived a year is phenomenal. It was very fascinating to watch them and see the different personality of each of the cubs.
Photo Shot on the Worthington Glacier Trail – Near the Top
Another Glacier Near Thompson Pass
Along the Richardson Highway
Near Valdez
Again more view pictures. There are over 100,000 glaciers in Alaska and I am sure I have missed a couple already.
Next we are off to the “Top of the World Highway”. We will be staying near a town called Chicken. The story goes town folks wanted to call it Ptarmigan (the State Bird) but they did not know how to spell it so they settled for Chicken. Needless to say they are leveraging that into a theme for tourist. We will be staying a couple of night in Dawson City in a B&B back in the Yukon Territory where we will do a side trip to the Tombstone Territorial Park. From Chicken we also do side trip to Eagle a native village off the beaten trail.
Living on the road and seeing this great country is the good life.
God Bless,
Larry and Jan