Thursday, May 25, 2023
Valdez today started out cloudy at a temperature of 43 degrees, only reaching a high of 48 degrees during the day. We first went to visit the Valdez Visitor Center to get information on what to see and do besides what information we already had.
One of the things I felt was interesting at the visitor center was looking at how big the stuffed bears were.
They also had an old barber's chair that was occupied by a Valdez resident during the 1964 earthquake.
After we left the visitor center, we drove around the Port of Valdez (first by the container terminal then out to the harbor area) as we had heard that there was an orca whale sighting there.
If you look really carefully at the picture above, you can see the spouting of the whale in the lower left hand corner. Whales breathe through blowholes and the telltale spouts that are formed on the surface occur when whales expel warm air that meets colder air on the surface and condenses into small water droplets.
We were also fortunate to see a couple bald eagles (in the center of this picture) on the log in the harbor. After the harbor, we turned on Dayville Road.
Above is the Petro Star Valdez Refinery. It produces 22,000 barrels a day of heating, turbine, diesel, jet and asphalt base fuel oils.
As we drove through the Solomon Gulch area where the Solomon Gulch Hatchery is located, there were many seagulls flying around. The Solomon Gulch Hatchery, located on Dayville Road, is owned by the Valdez Fisheries Development Association Inc. and was completed in 1983. Its main mission was to ensure sufficient numbers of wild salmon return each year to increase the harvests of both sport and commercial fisheries in the Valdez area. The facility is permitted to incubate, rear and release 270 million pink salmon and 2 million Coho salmon annually.
We took a brief stop at the Valdez Marine Terminal since it was a restricted site.
We then drove on and passed the dam and then saw the Solomon Gulch Powerhouse.
Our next stop was Glacier View Park, which is located about 5 miles outside of Valdez at the end of Airport Road, just past the airport.
Up until the 1950's Valdez Glacier extended all the way to Glacier View Park. In the 2010's Valdez Glacier began making its retreat around the bend in the lake. Now only a small shelf of rocks atop the glacier are visible on the far shore (see the three pictures below).
Next we drove out to the Old Valdez townsite. Until 1964,
Valdez was located about 4 miles east of its present location, closer to Valdez
Glacier.
This what remains of the old post office site in Old Valdez.
The people in Valdez that had called Old Valdez home were now given two years to pick up the pieces that were left and move four miles away to a newly created town. By late 1967, New Valdez had become their home.
Remnants of Old Valdez are shown below.
Just a mile or so from the Valdez townsite, we drove by the tidal wet land areas known as the "Duck Flats". The Valdez Duck Flats are one of the largest salt marshes in the Prince William Sound encompassing approximately 1,000 acres. Nearly half of this area is composed of unvegetated tidal mudflats.
This complex and highly productive ecosystem acts as a nursery for juvenile dolly varden, as well as pink and silver salmon fry; a nesting and feeding habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds; and it attracts several species of terrestrial and marine mammals such as sea and river otters, black and brown bears. Less conspicuous are the microorganisms, which break down and recycle the nutrient rich detritus produced in the Duck Flats wetland where it is ultimately distributed into deeper areas of the port.
Now back in Valdez, we drove by the Ferry Terminal.
We drove by and crossed the bridge over Mineral Creek.
Lastly, we headed back into town to find the Whispering Giant carved statue. This 30-foot tall wooden statue was created by Peter Toth and is one of his 70+ statues in the United States and Canada that honor Native Americans.
Tonight we had pizza for dinner.
Friday, May 26, 2023
It rained off and on all day with temperatures hanging around 46 degrees. I worked on catching up on my blog, while Mel went for a walk down to the Valdez Ferry Port and then to the grocery store.
We had salmon and zucchini for dinner.
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Today as the sun was out, we decided to take advantage of the situation and walk into town and check out all the wooded sculptures. It was 43 degrees as we began our walk at 9:15 a.m. We did encounter sprinkles during the day and the temperature only got to 46 degrees.
We started at the Waterfront District in Valdez. The first wood-carved sculpture we saw was called, "Captain."
Next wood-carved sculpture we saw was, "Sea Goddess."
Next as we continued our walk along the harbor, we saw this wood-carved shark.
As we walk along the John Thomas Kelsey Municipal Dock, we see the beautiful Chugach Mountains.
The next wooden-carved statue is the "Stunning Mermaid," which was one of my favorites.
Next was the wooden-carved statue, "Eternity," that to me sort of looked like an octopus.
We also found a few bear carvings in Valdez.
But an an extra special favorite of Mel and I was the "Kraken of Cape Hinchinbrook" wooden-carved sculpture. The Cape Hinchinbrook Light represented in this sculpture is a lighthouse located near the southern end of Hichinbrook Island adjacent to Prince William Sound. Interestingly, the sculpture had an octopus wrapped around the lighthouse.
The next wooden-carved sculpture is called, "Mosasaur" -- which means dinosaur, but to me it looks like an alligator.
And then an information board on the Aleyska Trans Alaska Pipeline System.
At 800 miles long, the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is one of the world's largest pipeline systems, transporting Alaska North Slope crude oil from Pump Station 1 in Prudhoe Bay. It travels across the state's rugged and beautiful terrain, traversing three mountain ranges, three major earthquake faults, and hundreds of rivers and streams before its end in Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in North America. Tankers are loaded at the Valdez Marine Terminal, and then depart to deliver Alaska's crude oil supply to market.
Information on the Valdez Marine Terminal. Also had information on the Malcom Alexander Statue, which pays tribute to the 70,000 workers who designed and built the pipeline between 1974-1977. It depicts a surveyor, engineer, laborer (an Alaska Native), welder and Teamster (a woman).
The plaque reads, "We didn't know it couldn't be done."
And now another look at the Valdez Ferry Terminal.
The Valdez Ferry Terminal is a transportation hub located in Valdez, providing ferry services to various destinations.
And we also found some more wooden-carved animals -- a raven and a puffin.
Next we found a wooden-carved harbor seal.
We then walked along the harbor enjoying the view of the boats with the Chugach Mountains in the background.
As we were walking along the harbor, we found this sign proclaiming , "The Fishing is Great in Valdez."
And the fishing must be great, as they host annual Halibut Fishing Derbies -- see the leaderboard below.
Mel examines the fish cleaning area.
And the birds found the fish scraps inviting!
A bear wooden-carved statue that appears to be protecting his private parts.
After doing all our sightseeing, at noon we stopped by to watch the Military Appreciation Ceremony held at Kelsey Plaza.
Following the ceremony at around 1 p.m. they had a free fish fry. The had broiled halibut packets, fried halibut chunks, grilled hot dogs, potato salad, chips, cookies and sodas or water all for free. It was really delicious!
It was raining some when we left, but since we had walked to the pier, we knew we had to walk back. We decided to stop at the small craft brewery -- Growler Bay Brewing Company that was only open on Saturday afternoons.
Afterwards, we walked home in the rain.
Sunday, May 28, 2023
We woke up Sunday morning to more clouds over Valdez, a temperature of 43 degrees and light rain showers. This morning around 9 a.m. we went to the free pancake breakfast at the Civic Center in Valdez. Breakfast consisted of pancakes and syrup, sausage, and scrambled eggs.
Heavy clouds over the mountains as seen from our campsite. As we headed to the Civic Center for breakfast, we were pleasantly surprised to see the Viking Cruise Ship (Orion) in dock.
The pancake breakfast was also a free "Military Appreciation" event.
While we were at the breakfast, we noticed that they had a movie showing, "Between the Glacier and the Sea" for Viking cruise passengers, so we decided to slip in and watch the movie as well.
This award-winning documentary, produced by the Valdez Museum in 2008, tells the story of the Good Friday Earthquake’s impact upon Valdez and the unique circumstances that led to the town’s founding and eventual demise. Starting with the Gold Rush of 1898, we learned why Old Valdez was founded on the glacial moraine that liquefied when the earthquake struck. The movie also featured heartbreaking interviews with those who lived in Valdez in 1964 and survived to tell their stories.
After the movie, we drove out past the Duck Flats on our way out to the waterfalls in Keystone Canyon.
As we entered Keystone Canyon, we started to see the waterfalls.
The first waterfall we came to was Horsetail Falls.
The Horsetail Falls has a lovely cascade that plunges down a 300-foot cliff inside Keystone Canyon near Valdez and is only a few yards from a large, paved pullout (at Mile 13.5 on the Richardson Highway). The falls fan out a bit over the bedrock at higher flows. Horsetail Falls is one of many snow-fed waterfalls within the three-mile-long Keystone Canyon.
Next a few yards away, around the curve of the highway was Bridal Veil Falls.
Bridal Veil Falls is a hig-volume waterfall that plunges from the 300-foot cliffs in Keystone Canyon near Valdez in a series of classic-looking cascades, vividly suggesting a bride's adornment. Bridal Veil Falls makes its plunge on the east side of the Richardson Highway and across Lowe River (the west-side pullout is located at Mile 13.9). It is one of the many snow-fed waterfalls inside the three-mile-long canyon. With your back to the highway and the river at your feet -- the whoosh of falling water fills your ears so much so that you might feel as though you're down inside a deep gorge.
Continuing along the road again, and after a few more curves, we arrive at the Railroad Tunnel of 1906.
Back in the early 1900's when copper was discovered outside of McCarthy along the Kennecott Glacier, there was a race to build the first train tracks from the Kennecott Mine to port where the copper could be deposited on boats. Between 1902 and 1907 there were several conceptual railroads, some had filled right-of-ways, and only four had begun physical construction.
By 1906, the Copper River and Northwestern Railway had reached the wall 15 miles up track in Keystone Canyon. They had begun hand-drilling the 200 foot long tunnel. At this time the investors of Kennecott Mine who also owned the Copper River and Northwestern Railway were reconsidering Valdez as a route from Cordova appeared to have natural coal deposits along its path. This coal could be used to fuel the traines and assist in mining operations.
In 1907 a developer by the name of Henry Reynolds rallied people in Valdez to continue efforts and build a new railway on the existing line. Unable to purchase the right-of-way, Reynolds and about 250 of his workers marched out to claim the abandoned lands. They were stopped by two U.S. Marshalls who fired warning shots which inadvertently injured several of the men, causing the unarmed workers to disperse. One man died of his injuries. About a month later Reynolds went broke and efforts were dropped.
The remains of the tunnel that was never finished.
Across the river, just above the water are the remains of the original road (dog & horse freight trail) cut out of rock barely wide enough for two horses abreast. This information board tells the whole story.
Looking carefully at the picture above, you can see the narrow dirt road cut out of the rocks about halfway up. Below is the end of the tunnel.
After that we drove back to Valdez, stopping at the Chugach National Forest (Crooked Creek Info Site).
The Chugach National Forest -- Crooked Creek Information Site is a small three-acre site which harbors a waterfall and a clear water stream where pink and chum salmon return each summer to spawn. Occasionally, black bears can be observed feasting on the returning fish here.
The Crooked Creek waterfall is a small waterfall that descends from Town Mountain and forms the creek. It is located behind the Forest Service Cabin.
We found a couple more wooden-carved statues at this site called, "Somethin's Bruin."
And once again another beautiful view of the mountains around Valdez.
Next we made a quick stop at Peter Pan Seafoods Inc. to pick up two packages of black cod fillets. They were $8/pound so we could pass up that deal.
Since we had read good things about the Nat Shack in Valdez, we decided to stop and each get a Classic Crunch Wrap for lunch -- which was superb!
And this afternoon, after lunch, we noticed the Valdez Fish Derby board had a 67-pound caught halibut listed. Interesting!
And then up by the dock, they were cleaning today's catch.
And lastly, I finally had a chance to take a picture of the Valdez mural.
For dinner tonight we had boneless grilled chicken breast and carrot cake for dessert.
Sweet dreams!
Shirley & Mel
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