From Tok, AK, to Valdez

THE SCENERY!

We are definitely in the northern end of the Rocky Mountains!  Almost everywhere you look, there are mountains still with considerable snow patches on them!  We have enjoyed multiple days of this mountain scenery--some from a good distance away, and some up close and personal!  Today was the latter!  We set out from Tok about 8:45 to cover the just under 300 miles to Valdez; here is a taste of some of the views:

On the Tok Cut-off--Alaska Highway 1 through the Alaska Range

Note the dust behind Jack's coach--lots of patchy gravel where there are repairs in process!

Mount Sanford in the Wrangell-Saintelias National Park--over 16,000 feet!

The Copper River with the Wrangell Mountians to the east.



Notice the river bed:  many of the rivers in the mountains reflect this wide, shallow bed where the debris from the heavy Spring snow melt up on the mountains fans out in the wide spots in the valleys.  Lots of rock and driftwood sprinkle the riverbed and the main channel breaks into a number of shallow streams as the water picks its way along.  Further up the mountains, the river is a fast moving torrent colored slate gray from all the silt scrapped up by the many glaciers which dot the Alaskan mountains.



Going southeast on the Richardson Highway towards Valdez--a cloudy afternoon!
 

Bridal Vail Falls in the Keystone Canyon east of Valdez

The smaller companion to Bridal Vail Falls!

THE ANIMALS

Moose

We finally added a moose to our list of animal sightings!  There was a female along the ditch to the right of our highway, and she darted off into the woods.  A bit further on, Rich saw a cow and her two wee calves trotting along in the ditch down below the roadside--unfortunately, Jack, Betty, Ray and Tam didn't get to see them, nor did we have a chance to photograph them to post here!

Bald Eagles

When we reached Valdez, it was late afternoon.  We had selected Bayside RV Park because an ad in either Woodall's or Milepost said that there were eagles who came by to "visit" and feed. Boy, are we a lucky bunch or what?  Turns out that the owner of the campground--about to sell this property to a new owner/couple--has the ONLY license in Alaska which allows him to feed the eagles!  [More likely than not, the ONLY license in the United States!]  He parked the three coaches right up on the front row facing the marsh and the bay of Prince William Sound and then he brought out a bag of frozen herrings.  Instructing us to stand right up against our coaches (because, he said, "They won't come in if they see people standing out in the flight path!"), he started waving a fist and whistling for the eagles.  In minutes, there were 3, 4, 5, or more eagles soaring over the campground.  He would whistle, toss the herring high in the air, and zoom!  In they came to snatch up their prize off of the gravel road right in front of our coaches and fly off to a nearby tree top to have their dinner!  Thor--no kidding, that's the name on his jacket!--would whistle again, toss a herring, and another eagle would swoop into grab some dinner.  This went on for about an hour as we stood in a soft rain watching this incredible show.
On occasion, the herring gulls who were circling about and wanting some for themselves, would dash in when no eagles were on approach and Thor would grab a handful of gravel rocks and throw at them to make them back off a bit from a herring which was laying on the roadway waiting for the next eagle to grab it.  They were pretty brazen, and wouldn't back off much, but boy, when an eagle was on final approach, they cleared out pronto!
Fortunately for us, the salmon have not yet started their runs up the rivers, so they are still coming by the campground for Thor's gifts!  He said that in a few more days to a week, they will be off to the streams and rivers to feed on the salmon and they won't be coming by the RV Park.  Like I said, we chose the campground and are here at just the right time--a couple weeks later or a different choice of where to park and we would have missed the show!
Here are a few shots of the beautiful bald eagles coming in to claim their prize!

Coming in upwind, talons being readied!

Low approach with prize in sight!

Snatch and clutch and fly off for dinner!

Another approach from downwind

Talons in forward thrust to snatch that little fish just to the right

GOT IT...and THANKS!

GRIZZLY BEARS

We were told by the lady at the office that there were some "brown bears" who were frequenting the marsh out in front of our coaches.  She thinks that these may be the 2 or 3 year old yearlings who they had seen in the marsh when momma bear had three cubs with her last year.  They think she may have run the male cubs off because now instead of momma and three cubs, they are strolling by singly.
Sure enough, after we watched the eagles feed, here came a big brown bear walking across the marsh.  He (or she) was headed for the marina to our right--apparently, they go over there to browse around the fishing fleet for any scraps left over from the catch preparation process.
About an hour later, there was a second bear who walked by much closer and came up into the far end of the campground!  We didn't go out to see where exactly that bear went!

Big brown bear on a stroll across the marsh.

"Hmmm, wonder if there is anything to eat up in that campground?"

We are going to stay put here in Valdez for a couple days.  Not only is there another eagle feeding this evening, there is quite a bit to see and maybe some fishing to do--fresh caught halibut on the grill, perhaps ??  Valdez, as you probably know, is the terminus of the Alaska Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay.  We will drive over to the terminal for a close up look in a little bit!  Hopefully, the clouds which are clinging to the mountains will lift a bit so I can get some more pictures to post of this beautiful area--just watched a gull chasing a bald eagle as I gazed out my big front "bay" window!
More to come as we continue our Alaskan Odyssey!!