Alaskan Adventure: Day 70. Our group set sail at 11:00am on the “Limousine of Valdez” piloted by Captain Fred. The day began overcast but gradually cleared and became sunny but not much warmer. We got back to dock around 8:00pm. It was really cold standing out on deck taking pictures but there was so much beauty to see!
Waiting to board the Lu-Lu Belle
The graceful Lu-Lu Belle
Was it the Sea Gulls laughing or Bernadette and Joe?
Tug boats in Port Valdez.
Inquisitive Sea Otters
More Sea Otters
Beautiful Scenery
Bald Eagle and lots of waterfalls
I think this is a Pigeon Guillemot (same family as Puffins)
Bunches of Puffins
Captain Fred maneuvered the front of the boat into a shallow cave for us to get very close to this Puffin
Lots of Sea Lions with Pups
More Sea Lions
Humpback Whales
Humpback Whale Blowhole
Lots of Whale Tails
We started seeing little icebergs floating around as we neared the mouth of Columbia Bay
The chunks of colorful ice got bigger and bigger
Some of the largest icebergs are resting on the bottom instead of floating.
The face of Colombia Glacier is 8 miles away. The field of icebergs was too dense to get any closer.
The face of Columbia Glacier. Doesn’t seem terribly impressive but the ice face varies between 200′ to 300′ high. (a 20-30 story building).
Because we couldn’t get close to Columbia Glacier we visited some other more accessible Glaciers
We saw whale spouts off in the distance as we were returning from the glaciers
Beautiful ice sculptures
The Lady in the rock (face profile).
This post is not finished but I wanted to get some of the pics posted. I’ll continue to add to it as time allows.
Favorite Bible verse for today: Romans 11: 33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, that it would be paid back to him? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Alaskan Adventure: Days 68 & 69. We traveled from Palmer to Glennallen and stayed one night at “Ranch House RV Camping” with a dinner at the historic Glennallen Roadhouse. The next morning we made an Amazingly beautiful drive from Palmer to Valdez.
Mountain scenery as we headed out of Palmer.
Colorful Sheep Mountain area.
On our drive from Palmer to Glennallen we stopped for lunch (and cinnamon rolls) at “Sheep Mountain Lodge Restaurant” We sat underneath this enormous moose head. A good reminder that a moose is a really big animal. We joke about all the moose warning signs along the roads because we sure don’t see very many. Would like to see more but glad to not hit one.
Matanuska Glacier.
Road construction. Who needs guardrails.
Waiting, waiting, waiting…
There was a very big, deep, hole in the road to go past which was a bit exciting as the RV leaned left in the grass to get past.
This is an Alaskan Highway. Sometimes OK, other times really patched up. What would be a bad county road in most States qualifies as a State Highway here.
Dashcam shot as we pulled into Glennallen Historic Roadhouse RV Park. The blurred tree in the middle is from a bug splat on the windshield.
Entry to Roadhouse for a Roadhouse Dinner.
Inside the Historic Roadhouse. Built in the late 1940’s.
We were told this is a 1941 International Harvester delivery truck. One of only three made available for purchase by civilians. All others went to the War effort.
Another International Harvester truck.
Story goes that these were two timepieces nailed to the cabin wall when one of the builders got tired of being asked “what time is it?”
Flowers at the RV park. Quote below was clipped from a weather news account that day.
Had to chuckle when we saw Alaska was issuing heat advisories for areas we were traveling. We finally had a few days with sunshine. Family members back home in Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas were dealing with scorching 90’s and 100’s while we were wearing fleece jackets. It was hot in the sun but 60’s and 70’s with a cool breeze in the shade was great here in Alaska.
Our first stop after leaving Glennallen was Wrangell-St Elias National Park Visitor Center.
The volcanic end of the mountain range (foreground on topo map) is the “Wrangell” portion. The mountain range extending into the background is the “St Elias” portion. That portion is not volcanic. It is uplifted as the Pacific Tectonic Plate subducts beneath it.
Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve is the Largest National Park in the United States (20,000+ square miles). It has the largest collection of glaciers on the North American Continent and many of the highest mountain peaks. In combination with other adjacent parks it is part of the 2nd largest contiguous protected land area in the World (Wrangell-St Elias NP/Glacier Bay NP/Tatshenshini-Alsek World Heritage Site/Kluane NP)
Normally Photoshop does a great job of stitching together multiple photos. In this case it didn’t but it shows how many of the photos in this blog are created, especially when I’m using the long telephoto lens.
This pic of Mount Drum, taken from the overlook near the Visitors Center is made of 3 photos stitched together in Photoshop.
Dashcam shot of Worthington Glacier near the top of Thompson Pass.
Worthington Glacier
Ice details of Worthington Glacier.
Not a volcano but looks like one coming down from Thompson Pass on the Richardson Highway into Valdez.
Deep gorge at Tsaina River bridge: “Devil’s Elbow”
The mountains just soar upwards.
Fireweed flowers continue to move up the stem toward the top. When flowers reach the top it is said to indicate summer is coming to an end and winter snow is six weeks away.
Continuing toward Valdez, we entered “Keystone Canyon”. A beautiful part of the drive that made Valdez much easier to access. Previous to the Army Corps of Engineers cutting a road through Keystone Canyon the access to Valdez was over Valdez Glacier, which would be tough in an RV… This is a dashcam shot going through Keystone Canyon.
Keystone Canyon had two big waterfalls right along the highway. This one is Bridal Veil Falls. 600′ high and the tallest roadside waterfall in Alaska.
A bunch of pics stitched together.
Horsetail Falls. 330′ high.
Colorful Rocks by the falls.
Dashcam video pulling into Valdez RV Park.
Our campsite at Valdez has a beautiful view of mountains and tidal flat that empties and fills twice a day.
This was sobering as our campsite is about 4′ above the tide. The “old townsite” of Valdez was abandoned after the 1964 earthquake. More on that in a Valdez Museum post to come later.
Tomorrow we will go on an all day boat tour on the “Lu-Lu Belle” boat. That will be a separate post.
Favorite Bible verse today: Acts 26:22-23
So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place, as to whether the Christ was to suffer, and whether, as first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.
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