Time in Valdez

A FOUR DAY BREAK in VALDEZ

We arrived in Valdez from Tok via the Tok Cut-off Highway and then the Richardson Highway.  As we learned coming from Whitehorse to Tok, the winters--and the permafrost!--make for some pretty harsh conditions for the highways!  The harsh winter temps, the snow and ice, do exact their toll on the road surfaces, so there is considerable repair work going on during the warmer months!  However, the permafrost effect is what makes the driving so treacherous and tense.  As was mentioned in the Whitehorse-to-Tok post, the frost heaves make us slow down to 25 mph or less to avoid the terrible bouncing that occur when taking a 43 foot motorhome across a series of dips in the roadway!  We originally thought that the Alaskan side of the Alcan Highway was in better shape than the Canadian side, but as we turned south towards Valdez--onto the Tok Cut-off--we encountered some pretty bouncy roads and more construction, so it was another tense day of driving.

More Bald Eagle Pictures

As already mentioned, the campground we picked was special in that the owner has a license to feed the bald eagles, which he does every evening about 5:00.  We were lucky enough to see these spectacular birds come in for their frozen herring three of the four nights we were staying at the campground.  Here is another series of shots:

Eyes on her prize, talons dropping down for the snatch!

Drifting down on the wind!

Wings up in "brake" position, talons out, clutch the prize!

Pump those big wings to gain elevation!

Head for a tree top to have a snack!

As we watched on the second night, a big female flew in, sat down next to the bait, and proceeded to just go ahead and eat it right there!  The owner told me she would often do that, and seemed totally unperturbed by the other eagles flying by to snatch up a treat.  She just sat there and had her dinner, or maybe round 2 or 3 of her dinner!  After downing two herring, Thor (the owner) threw another one to her and she just sat beside it because she was full.  Eventually, she just flew off, leaving the bait for one of the other "flyers"!

"I'll just sit here and save my energy--I'll down this one and have a second!"

Get after it, girl!

"Yeah, I'll just tear off a chunk."

"Oh yeah, I do like herring!"

"Hey, I've had two!  A girl has to watch her figure!"

"No, really!  I can't!"

Glacier Cruise

There are a whole bunch of glaciers in the mountains around Valdez.  A couple of them come down to the ocean, and of course, there are tour boats which will take you out to see them.  So, of course, we signed up for a cruise to the Columbia Glacier.  Along the way, we saw sea otters who were laying on their backs--"sleeping", the captain said.

The Lu Lu Belle harbor/glacier cruise boat.

Amy welcomes us aboard--I think she maybe the captain's daughter.

The captain, proud owner of the Lu Lu Belle, and raconteur!

Sea otters snoozing in Prince William sound

Hi, there, guys!

"Hey, why are you disturbing my morning nap, eh?"

A bit further on, we encountered a hump back whale who was feeding.  The captain said he could see on his instruments a real "food chain" all along a line running through the Sound, so he was surprised that there was only one whale in getting lunch!

We were also treated to a pod of Doll's dolphin who love to ride and play in the bow wave of the boat.  There were probably 5 to 8 animals in this pod and they danced along in front of the bow for probably 5 to 10 minutes.  As you can see, these dolphin are black and white instead of the ones we know from the lower 48 which are gray.

As we got outside the Valdez harbor portion of Prince William Sound and more into open spaces, there were several colonies of Stellar sea lions up along the rocky shores.  The captain had lots to say about how folks around here don't like the sea lions because they eat too many salmon!  But guess what?  There are lots of salmon coming into these waters, so what does one expect?  Sea lions like salmon, too!

Check out the "Beachmaster" in center right:  he is the bull and has his harem around him!

Now how in the world did that smaller guy crawl all the way up on that boulder to nap?

After checking out the plentiful wild life, we finally went around the bend and up to the Columbia Glacier.  As we were approaching the corner of the fjord from a good ways off, I saw lots of "boats" on the ocean surface and figured there must be some fishermen up ahead catching salmon.  Imagine my chagrin when those objects turned out to be icebergs from the glacier!

Fishing boats out there?  Nope, just icebergs!

And lots of them, but not too big!

There was a lot of sea ice blocking our path to the glacier, so the captain had to pick and choose his way through the ice, and then slowly go over the "hill" of the glacial moraine.  The fjord was hundreds of feet deep except where the glacier had stopped and then started retreating.  When that happens, the huge pile of debris that the glacier has scraped up along its "face" gets left in a big pile called a moraine.  The depth gauge went from 750 foot depth to less than 35 foot, and then back to 600 or 700 feet again.  Once over the moraine and through the pack ice, he could go back to cruising speed to get to the glacier which at that point was still over 10 miles away.
We stayed about 1/4 mile back from the glacial wall, and watched as pieces broke off and crashed into the sea.  We could hear the glacier crack and groan as it slowly came forward, but we didn't get to see any really big pieces calve off.  At the face of the glacier, it towers about 300 feet above the water, and goes way down under the water.  The sunlight played magic with the colors in the ice as it came and went behind some shallow cloud cover.  It was chilly there:  the air temp was about 37 degrees and the water temp was a crisp 34!!  Glad we didn't have to take a swim!

Approaching the entrance to the fjord of the Columbia Glacier with its sea ice barrier!

The captain picks his way through the sea ice!

An average sized iceberg in the sea ice pack

One tongue of the Columbia Glacier--a river of black debris runs through its middle!

The face of the Columbia Glacier comes into view

 

Note the hill in the right center:  the glacier went on both sides of it instead of grinding it up!

It is hard to see the size in this picture:  the glacier rises 300 feet from the sea level!

You can see the grinding power of a glacier in this shot with all the "black" streaks

The captain said this is the face of the Old Man in the Glacier!

The light played on and off with the colors in the ice

We thoroughly enjoyed the boat ride and the tales from the captain--although it was not unusual to find us huddled in the dining room of the vessel to stay warm!!  It was brisk out on the water!

Does this look like a warm group of RVers?