From Tok, Alaska, we headed down the Richardson Highway to the port city of Valdez, which is on the southern coast. We had no big expectations for Valdez and actually bypassed it four years ago thinking it was not worth the extra miles to visit. Boy oh boy, were we ever wrong. The drive to Valdez parallels the Wrangell Mountains, and the views of the snow-capped peaks were breathtaking. Closer to Valdez, we went over Thompson pass in the Chugach Mountains. The colors in the pass were so vibrant that it was almost painful to look at. Everything was covered with green growth and almost looked like a rain forest. This is no surprise, as Thompson pass typically gets upwards of 900 inches of snow every year. Of course, this much snow leads to some dramatic waterfalls and huge glaciers.
In Valdez, we took the Stan Stephens cruise on Prince William Sound. The highlight of this 8-hour cruise was a visit to the Meares Glacier, but the wildlife and scenery along the way was indescribable. Prince William Sound is most certainly a very special place, and has to be one of the more beautiful places we have ever seen. Without a doubt, our time on the Sound will be the highlight of the whole trip. Well worth driving all these miles to see.
We are now making our way north to Fairbanks where we will head out on our Arctic Ocean part of the trip on Sunday.
We found these juvenile Great Horned Owls at the campground in Tok, AK.
Just south of Tok, we were lucky to spot a mama moose with two calves swimming across a pond. They were really bogged down in the pond, so we were able to watch them for several minutes.
Some of the mountain peaks in the Wrangell-St Elias National Park are breathtaking.
A small glacier just north of Valdez, AK
Welcome to Valdez!
Some fishermen had just brought in the days catch of halibut and red snapper at the Valdez harbor. They were having a fishing contest and the current leader for halibut weighed in at 285 lbs!
This beautiful bald eagle was keeping an eye on us....or maybe he was eyeing up the salmon in the water behind us.
The boat captain was continuously dodging Sea Otters as they were floating all throughout Prince William Sound.
A Swiss sail boat visiting Prince William Sound
The boat captain navigated us through a lot of ice coming off of the Meares Glacier.
The face of the Meares Glacier.
While we were watching, the whole sheet of ice to the right of this crack calved into the water. The sound was a very sharp bang like a very loud rifle shot.
The Meares Glacier is one of only 3% of the world’s glaciers that are growing. Notice how the glacier is pushing against the trees on the left. Glaciers go through natural cycles of growing and receding.
It's a lazy day at the beach for these Sea Lions.
These two Sea Lions were having a small dispute...
These guys were tired of the beach and decided to go for a float on an iceberg...
A couple of Puffins heading back to the nest
A tanker filled with Alaskan North Slope oil is headed out of the sound.
The southern terminal for the 800 mile long Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The oil starts on the far north slope of Alaska at Prudhoe Bay and ends here in Valdez, where it is loaded on tankers for shipment to southern ports. We will visit Prudhoe Bay on Sunday.
Some more awesome views from around Prince William Sound.
Track Logs:
Day 20 – July 29, 2018, 267 miles
Day 22 – July 31, 2018, 206 miles
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